Systems and methods for managing data in an intelligent television

ABSTRACT

An intelligent television can store and retrieve data about various functions of the television or associated with user behavior. The stored data streamlines the processes of providing electronic programming guide information, providing search results, providing statistics about content, providing channel information, etc. The unique set of data services in the intelligent television receive, store, manage, and retrieve the data for various of the applications or components.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefits of and priority, under 35U.S.C. §119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. Nos. 61/684,672filed Aug. 17, 2012, “Smart TV”; 61/702,650 filed Sep. 18, 2012, “SmartTV”; 61/697,710 filed Sep. 6, 2012, “Social TV”; 61/700,182 filed Sep.12, 2012, “Social TV Roadmap”; 61/736,692 filed Dec. 13, 2012,“SmartTV”; 61/798,821 filed Mar. 15, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/804,942 filedMar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/804,998 filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”;61/804,971 filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/804,990 filed Mar. 25,2013, “SmartTV”; 61/805,003 filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/805,053filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/805,030 filed Mar. 25, 2013,“SmartTV”; 61/805,027 filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; 61/805,042 filedMar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV”; and 61/805,038 filed Mar. 25, 2013, “SmartTV.”Each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated herein by referencein their entirety for all that they teach and for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Consolidation of device features or technological convergence is in anincreasing trend. Technological convergence describes the tendency fordifferent technological systems to evolve toward performing similartasks. As people use more devices, the need to carry those devices,charge those devices, update software on those devices, etc. becomesmore cumbersome. To compensate for these problems, technology companieshave been integrating features from different devices into one or twomulti-functional devices. For example, cellular phones are now capableof accessing the Internet, taking photographs, providing calendarfunctions, etc.

The consolidation trend is now affecting the design and functionality ofdevices generally used in the home. For example, audio receivers canaccess the Internet, digital video recorders can store or provide accessto digital photographs, etc. The television in home audio/video systemsremains a cornerstone device because the display function cannot beintegrated into other devices. As such, consolidating home devices leadsto integrating features and functionality into the television. Theemergence of the Smart Television (Smart TV) is evidence of the trend toconsolidate functionality into the television.

A Smart TV is generally conceived as a device that integrates access tothe Internet and Web 2.0 features into television sets. The Smart TVrepresents the trend of technological convergence between computers andtelevision sets. The Smart TV generally focuses on online interactivemedia, Internet TV, on-demand streaming media, and generally does notfocus on traditional broadcast media. Unfortunately, most Smart TVs haveyet to provide seamless and intuitive user interfaces for navigatingand/or executing the various features of the Smart TV. As such, thereare still issues with the consolidation of features and the presentationof these features in Smart TVs.

SUMMARY

There is a need for an Intelligent TV with intuitive user interfaces andwith seamless user interaction capability. These and other needs areaddressed by the various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations ofthe present disclosure. Also, while the disclosure is presented in termsof exemplary embodiments, it should be appreciated that individualaspects of the disclosure can be separately claimed.

A method for managing data associated with an intelligent television,the method comprising: automatically determining a live televisionsource; automatically scanning for one or more live television channelsin the live television source; and providing a list of the livetelevision channels.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the scan is completedwithout input from a user of the intelligent television.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving an indicationto begin a first time experience for the user; and in response to theindication, automatically scanning for the one or more live televisionchannels.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the first time experiencebegins when the user first uses the intelligent television.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user provides otherselections during the first time experience.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the other selections aremade while the automatic scanning is on-going.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the automatic scanningoccurs in the background.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the automatic scan is ofone or more of analog or digital television sources.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the automatic scan is oftwo or more live television sources.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the list is populated ina channel change user interface.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a live television source plug-in operableto: automatically determine a live television source; automatically scanfor one or more live television channels in the live television source;execute a user interface application in communication with the livetelevision source plug-in, the user interface application operable to:provide a list of the live television channels.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe processor is further operable to: receive an indication to begin afirst time experience for the user; and in response to the indication,automatically scan for the one or more live television channel, whereinthe live television source plug-in is operable to automatically scan forthe one or more live television channels, wherein the first timeexperience begins when the user first uses the intelligent television.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user provides other selections during the first time experience, andwherein the other selections are made while the automatic scanning ison-going.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe automatic scanning occurs in the background, wherein the automaticscan is of one or more of analog or digital television sources, andwherein the automatic scan is of two or more live television sources.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe list is populated in a channel change user interface, and whereinthe scan is completed without input from a user of the intelligenttelevision.

A computer readable medium having stored thereon processor executableinstructions that cause a computing system to execute a method, theinstructions comprising: instructions to automatically determine a livetelevision source; instructions to automatically scan for one or morelive television channels in the live television source; instructions toprovide a list of the live television channels.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes theinstructions further comprising instructions to: receive an indicationto begin a first time experience for the user; and in response to theindication, automatically scan for the one or more live televisionchannel, wherein the live television source plug-in is operable toautomatically scan for the one or more live television channels, whereinthe first time experience begins when the user first uses theintelligent television.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein theuser provides other selections during the first time experience, andwherein the other selections are made while the automatic scanning ison-going.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein theautomatic scanning occurs in the background, wherein the automatic scanis of one or more of analog or digital television sources, and whereinthe automatic scan is of two or more live television sources.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thelist is populated in a channel change user interface, and wherein thescan is completed without input from a user of the intelligenttelevision.

A method for managing data associated with an intelligent television,the method comprising: receiving media associated with a user at theintelligent television; receiving one or more user-defined organizationcriteria; storing the one or more user-defined organization criteria;organizing media based on the one or more user-defined organizationcriteria; and providing a user interface having the media and organizedbased on the one or more user-defined organization criteria.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the media includes one ormore of a video file, and picture file, or an audio file.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the media includes asource, and wherein the source of the media data is also stored.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the media includes one ormore items of metadata stored with the media, and wherein theuser-defined criteria sort the media based on one or more of themetadata.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the metadata includes oneor more of a location at which the media was created, a time at whichthe media was created, and a date at which the media was created.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the media is stored in amedia database that is local to the intelligent television.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein there are two or moreuser-defined organization criteria are stored as categories in the mediadatabase.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein a first set user-definedorganization criteria are associated with a first user and a second setuser-defined organization criteria are associated with a second user.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: determining whether newmedia has been received; if new media has been received, retrieving theone or more user-defined organization criteria; changing the userinterface to incorporate the new media while organized based on the oneor more user-defined organization criteria; and providing the changeduser interface.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the intelligenttelevision receives new media from a device in communication with theintelligent television.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a live television subservice operable to:receive media associated with a user at the intelligent television;receive one or more user-defined organization criteria; store the one ormore user-defined organization criteria; organize media based on the oneor more user-defined organization criteria; and execute a user interfaceapplication in communication with the live television subservice, theuser interface application operable to provide a user interface have themedia and organized based on the one or more user-defined organizationcriteria.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe media includes one or more of a video file, and picture file, or anaudio file, and wherein the media includes a source, and wherein thesource of the media data is also stored.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe media includes one or more items of metadata stored with the media,and wherein the user-defined criteria sort the media based on one ormore of the metadata, and wherein the metadata includes one or more of alocation at which the media was created, a time at which the media wascreated, and a date at which the media was created.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthere are two or more user-defined organization criteria are stored ascategories in the media database, and wherein a first set user-definedorganization criteria are associated with a first user and a second setuser-defined organization criteria are associated with a second user.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe live television subservice is further operable to: determine whethernew media has been received, wherein the intelligent television receivesnew media from a device in communication with the intelligenttelevision; if new media has been received, retrieve the one or moreuser-defined organization criteria; wherein the user interfaceapplication is further operable to: change the user interface toincorporate the new media while organized based on the one or moreuser-defined organization criteria; and provide the changed userinterface.

A computer readable medium having stored thereon processor executableinstructions that cause a computing system to execute a method, theinstructions comprising: instructions to receive media associated with auser at the intelligent television; instructions to receive one or moreuser-defined organization criteria; instructions to store the one ormore user-defined organization criteria; instructions to organize mediabased on the one or more user-defined organization criteria; andinstructions to provide a user interface have the media and organizedbased on the one or more user-defined organization criteria.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein themedia includes one or more of a video file, and picture file, or anaudio file, and wherein the media includes a source, and wherein thesource of the media data is also stored.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein themedia includes one or more items of metadata stored with the media, andwherein the user-defined criteria sort the media based on one or more ofthe metadata, and wherein the metadata includes one or more of alocation at which the media was created, a time at which the media wascreated, and a date at which the media was created.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein thereare two or more user-defined organization criteria are stored ascategories in the media database, and wherein a first set user-definedorganization criteria are associated with a first user and a second setuser-defined organization criteria are associated with a second user.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprises:instructions to determine whether new media has been received, whereinthe intelligent television receives new media from a device incommunication with the intelligent television; if new media has beenreceived, instructions to retrieve the one or more user-definedorganization criteria; instructions to change the user interface toincorporate the new media while organized based on the one or moreuser-defined organization criteria; and instructions to provide thechanged user interface.

A method for managing data associated with an intelligent television,the method comprising: receiving, by a processor of the intelligenttelevision, electronic programming guide (EPG) information including acontent listing including information about two or more items of contentthat are or will be presented on the intelligent television; storing theEPG information; receiving a user-defined attribute associated with afirst item of content; and storing the user-defined attribute with theEPG information in the content listing and associated with the firstitem of content.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user-definedattribute is a favorite designation or a reminder.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the EPG information isfor live television content.

An aspect of the above method further comprises displaying a userinterface including the EPG information.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user interfaceincludes a visual indicia associated with a portion of the channellisting that provides an indication of the user-defined attributeassociated with the item of content.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the visual indicia is astar indicating that the content is a favorite.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: while viewing the userinterface including the EPG information, receiving new EPG information;and dynamically updating the user interface to provide the new EPGinformation.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the user-definedattribute is associated with a new item of content in the new EPGinformation.

An aspect of the above method further comprises dynamically adding a newvisual indicia to a new item of content in the new EPG information.

An aspect of the above method further comprises storing the new EPGinformation with at least one user-defined attribute associated with thenew item of content in the new EPG information.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a EPG subservice operable to: receive, bya processor of the intelligent television, electronic programming guide(EPG) information including a content listing including informationabout two or more items of content that are or will be presented on theintelligent television; store the EPG information; receive auser-defined attribute associated with a first item of content; andstore the user-defined attribute with the EPG information in the contentlisting and associated with the first item of content.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user-defined attribute is a favorite designation or a reminder, andwherein the EPG information is for live television content.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system further comprisesthe processor executing a user interface application operable to displaya user interface including the EPG information, wherein the userinterface includes a visual indicia associated with a portion of thechannel listing that provides an indication of the user-definedattribute associated with the item of content, wherein the visualindicia is a star indicating that the content is a favorite.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe EPG subservice is further operable to, while viewing the userinterface including the EPG information, receive new EPG information,and wherein the user interface application is further operable todynamically updating the user interface to provide the new EPGinformation, wherein the user-defined attribute is associated with a newitem of content in the new EPG information.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user interface application is further operable to dynamically add anew visual indicia to a new item of content in the new EPG information,and wherein the EPG subservice is further operable to store the new EPGinformation with at least one user-defined attribute associated with thenew item of content in the new EPG information.

A computer readable medium having stored thereon processor executableinstructions that cause a computing system to execute a method, theinstructions comprising: instructions to receive, by a processor of theintelligent television, electronic programming guide (EPG) informationincluding a content listing including information about two or moreitems of content that are or will be presented on the intelligenttelevision; instructions to store the EPG information; instructions toreceive a user-defined attribute associated with a first item ofcontent; and instructions to store the user-defined attribute with theEPG information in the content listing and associated with the firstitem of content.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein theuser-defined attribute is a favorite designation or a reminder, andwherein the EPG information is for live television content.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprises:instructions to display a user interface including the EPG information,wherein the user interface includes a visual indicia associated with aportion of the channel listing that provides an indication of theuser-defined attribute associated with the item of content, wherein thevisual indicia is a star indicating that the content is a favorite.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprises: whileviewing the user interface including the EPG information, instructionsto receive new EPG information; and instructions to dynamically updatingthe user interface to provide the new EPG information, wherein theuser-defined attribute is associated with a new item of content in thenew EPG information.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprises:instructions to dynamically add a new visual indicia to a new item ofcontent in the new EPG information; and instructions to store the newEPG information with at least one user-defined attribute associated withthe new item of content in the new EPG information.

A method for managing data associated with an intelligent television,the method comprising: receiving a search query for content in theintelligent television, wherein the search query includes two or moreterms; returning at least one result based on the two or more terms;parsing the two or more terms; and storing the search query and the atleast one result, wherein the stored search query includes the two ormore terms.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving a new searchquery for content in the intelligent television; retrieving the storedsearch query; and presenting the previous search query as a selectableuser interface device.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein two or more searchqueries are stored and presented as previous searches.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: presenting a firstresult after a first search term is entered; and dynamically presentinga second result after a second search term is entered.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: determining if thesearch query is alphanumeric or statistical; if the search query isalphanumeric, receiving the two or more terms; if the search query isalphanumeric or statistical, determining the statistic used for thesearch query.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the statistic is one oflast viewed, most viewed, recently added, or favorite.

An aspect of the above method further comprises returning a result basedon the determined statistic.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein at least two mostrecently added returns are presented.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the last viewed resultincluded content that was partially viewed.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the search is entered ina search panel that overlays the content being viewed.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to: execute a live television subservice operable to:receive a search query for content in the intelligent television,wherein the search query includes two or more terms; return at least oneresult based on the two or more terms; parse the two or more terms; andstore the search query and the at least one result, wherein the storedsearch query includes the two or more terms.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe live television subservice is further operable to: receive a newsearch query for content in the intelligent television; retrieve thestored search query; and wherein the user interface application isfurther operable to present the previous search query as a selectableuser interface device, wherein two or more search queries are stored andpresented as previous searches.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe user interface application is further operable to: present a firstresult after a first search term is entered; and dynamically present asecond result after a second search term is entered.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe live television subservice is further operable to: determine if thesearch query is alphanumeric or statistical; if the search query isalphanumeric, receive the two or more terms; if the search query isalphanumeric or statistical, determine the statistic used for the searchquery, wherein the statistic is one of last viewed, most viewed,recently added, or favorite; and return a result based on the determinedstatistic.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes wherein atleast two most recently added returns are presented.

A computer readable medium having stored thereon processor executableinstructions that cause a computing system to execute a method, theinstructions comprising: instructions to receive a search query forcontent in the intelligent television, wherein the search query includestwo or more terms; instructions to return at least one result based onthe two or more terms; instructions to parse the two or more terms; andinstructions to store the search query and the at least one result,wherein the stored search query includes the two or more terms.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: receive a new search query for content in theintelligent television; retrieve the stored search query; and presentthe previous search query as a selectable user interface device, whereintwo or more search queries are stored and presented as previoussearches.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: present a first result after a first search term isentered; and dynamically present a second result after a second searchterm is entered.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: determine if the search query is alphanumeric orstatistical; if the search query is alphanumeric, receive the two ormore terms; if the search query is alphanumeric or statistical,determine the statistic used for the search query, wherein the statisticis one of last viewed, most viewed, recently added, or favorite; andreturn a result based on the determined statistic.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium includes wherein atleast two most recently added returns are presented.

A method for managing data associated with an intelligent television,the method comprising: receiving a selection of content for theintelligent television; storing the selection of content; and creating adatabase of content selected by a user, wherein the selection isassociated with the user.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: determining if thecontent has been viewed; if the content has been viewed, storing theselection; and if the content has not been viewed, forgoing theselection.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the determination of ifthe content has been viewed is based on an amount of time the user viewsthe content before selecting another user interface action.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving a designationof a favorite for the content; and storing the favorite designation.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving a date andtime; receiving new content at the intelligent television; and storinginformation about the new content in the database.

An aspect of the above method further comprises: receiving a request forstatistical information; retrieving statistics on one or more ofselections or new content.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the statistics includeone or more categories, wherein the categories include one or more ofmost viewed content, last viewed content, favorite content, or newcontent.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the statistics arepresented in a user interface for the user to select content based onthe statistics.

An aspect of the above method further comprises providing the statisticsto a third party.

An aspect of the above method includes wherein the database storesstatistics for two or more users, and wherein the database stores atleast two statistics, in each category, for each user.

An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to storesocial media data; a processor in communication with the memory, theprocessor operable to execute a statistics subservice operable to:receive a selection of content for the intelligent television; store theselection of content; and create a database of content selected by auser, wherein the selection is associated with the user.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe statistics subservice is further operable to: determine if thecontent has been viewed, wherein the determination of if the content hasbeen viewed is based on an amount of time the user views the contentbefore selecting another user interface action; if the content has beenviewed, store the selection; and if the content has not been viewed,forgo the selection.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe statistics subservice is further operable to: receive a designationof a favorite for the content; store the favorite designation; receive adate and time; receive new content at the intelligent television; andstore information about the new content in the database.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe statistics subservice is further operable to: receive a request forstatistical information; and retrieve statistics on one or more ofselections or new content, wherein the statistics include one or morecategories, wherein the categories include one or more of most viewedcontent, last viewed content, favorite content, or new content, andwherein the statistics are presented in a user interface for the user toselect content based on the statistics.

An aspect of the above intelligent television system includes whereinthe statistics subservice is further operable to provide the statisticsto a third party.

A computer readable medium having stored thereon processor executableinstructions that cause a computing system to execute a method, theinstructions comprising: instructions to receive a selection of contentfor the intelligent television; store the selection of content; andcreate a database of content selected by a user, wherein the selectionis associated with the user.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: determine if the content has been viewed, wherein thedetermination of if the content has been viewed is based on an amount oftime the user views the content before selecting another user interfaceaction; if the content has been viewed, store the selection; and if thecontent has not been viewed, forgo the selection.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: receive a designation of a favorite for the content;store the favorite designation; receive a date and time; receive newcontent at the intelligent television; and store information about thenew content in the database.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to: receive a request for statistical information; andretrieve statistics on one or more of selections or new content, whereinthe statistics include one or more categories, wherein the categoriesinclude one or more of most viewed content, last viewed content,favorite content, or new content, and wherein the statistics arepresented in a user interface for the user to select content based onthe statistics.

An aspect of the above computer readable medium further comprisesinstructions to provide the statistics to a third party.

The systems and methods herein provide new processes for managing data.The processes provide for data that streamlines searches and that tracksuser behavior. The data may then be used to make the intelligenttelevision operate more intuitively. These and other advantages will beapparent from the disclosure.

The phrases “at least one”, “one or more”, and “and/or” are open-endedexpressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. Forexample, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at leastone of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B,or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising”, “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers toany process or operation done without material human input when theprocess or operation is performed. However, a process or operation canbe automatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material.”

A “blog” (a blend of the term web log) is a type of website or part of awebsite supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogsare usually maintained by an individual with regular entries ofcommentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphicsor video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.

A “blogging service” is a blog-publishing service that allows private ormulti-user blogs with time-stamped entries.

The term “cable TV” refers to a system of distributing televisionprograms to subscribers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmittedthrough coaxial cables or light pulses through fiber-optic cables. Thiscontrasts with traditional broadcast television (terrestrial television)in which the television signal is transmitted over the air by radiowaves and received by a television antenna attached to the television.

The term “channel” or “television channel,” as used herein, can be aphysical or virtual channel over which a television station ortelevision network is distributed. A physical cannel in analogtelevision can be an amount of bandwidth, typically 6, 7, or 8 MHz, thatoccupies a predetermine channel frequency. A virtual channel is arepresentation, in cable or satellite television, of a data stream for aparticular television media provider (e.g., CDS, TNT, HBO, etc.).

The term “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refers to anytangible storage and/or transmission medium that participate inproviding instructions to a processor for execution. Such a medium maytake many forms, including but not limited to, nonvolatile media,volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, forexample, NVRAM, or magnetic or optical disks. Volatile media includesdynamic memory, such as main memory. Common forms of computer-readablemedia include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, magneto-optical medium, aCD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any otherphysical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, aFLASH-EPROM, a solid state medium like a memory card, any other memorychip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any othermedium from which a computer can read. A digital file attachment toe-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives isconsidered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storagemedium. When the computer-readable media is configured as a database, itis to be understood that the database may be any type of database, suchas relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like.Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include a tangible storagemedium or distribution medium and prior art-recognized equivalents andsuccessor media, in which the software implementations of the presentdisclosure are stored.

The term “enhanced television” (ETV) refers to a collection ofspecifications developed under the OpenCable project of CableLabs (CableTelevision Laboratories, Inc.) that define an ETV Application consistingof resources (files) adhering to the Enhanced TV Binary InterchangeFormat (EBIF) content format as well as PNG images, JPEG images, and PFRdownloadable fonts. An ETV application is normally delivered through anMPEG transport stream and accompanies an MPEG program containing videoand audio elementary streams. An “ETV Application” is a collection ofresources (files) that include one or more EBIF resources that representviewable information in the form of pages. Two forms of a given ETVApplication may be distinguished: (1) an interchange form and (2) anexecution form. The interchange form of an ETV Application consists ofthe resources (files) that represent the compiled application prior toits actual execution by an ETV User Agent. The execution form of an ETVApplication consists of the stored, and possibly mutated forms of theseresources while being decoded, presented, and executed by an ETV UserAgent. An “ETV User Agent” is a software component that operates on aset-top box, a television, or any other computing environment capable ofreceiving, decoding, presenting, and processing an ETV Application. Thiscomponent usually provides, along with its host hardware environment,one or more mechanisms for an end-user to navigate and interact with themultimedia content represented by ETV Applications.

The term “high-definition television” (HDTV) provides a resolution thatis substantially higher than that of standard-definition television.HDTV may be transmitted in various formats, namely 1080p—1920×1080p:2,073,600 pixels (approximately 2.1 megapixels) per frame, 1080i (whichis typically either 1920×1080i: 1,036,800 pixels (approximately 1megapixel) per field or 2,073,600 pixels (approximately 2.1 megapixels)per frame or 1440×1080i:[1] 777,600 pixels (approximately 0.8megapixels) per field or 1,555,200 pixels (approximately 1.6 megapixels)per frame), or 720p—1280×720p: 921,600 pixels (approximately 0.9megapixels) per frame. As will be appreciated, “frame size” in pixels isdefined as number of horizontal pixels×number of vertical pixels, forexample 1280×720 or 1920×1080. Often the number of horizontal pixels isimplied from context and is omitted, as in the case of 720p and 1080p,“scanning system” is identified with the letter “p” for progressivescanning or “i” for interlaced scanning, and “frame rate” is identifiedas number of video frames per second. For interlaced systems analternative form of specifying number of fields per second is oftenused. For purposes of this disclosure, “high-definition television” isdeemed to include other high-definition analog or digital video formats,including ultra high definition television.

The term “internet television” (otherwise known as Internet TV, OnlineTelevision, or Online TV) is the digital distribution of televisioncontent via the Internet. It should not be confused with Webtelevision—short programs or videos created by a wide variety ofcompanies and individuals, or Internet protocol television (IPTV)—anemerging internet technology standard for use by televisionbroadcasters. Internet Television is a general term that covers thedelivery of television shows and other video content over the internetby video streaming technology, typically by major traditional televisionbroadcasters. It does not describe a technology used to deliver content(see Internet protocol television). Internet television has become verypopular through services such as RTÉ Player in Ireland; BBC iPlayer,4oD, ITV Player (also STV Player and UTV Player) and Demand Five in theUnited Kingdom; Hulu in the United States; Nederland 24 in theNetherlands; ABC iview and Australia Live TV in Australia; Tivibu inTurkey; and iWanTV! in the Philippines.

The term “internet protocol television” (IPTV) refers to a systemthrough which television services are delivered using the Internetprotocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet,instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellitesignal, and cable television formats. IPTV services may be classifiedinto three main groups, namely live television, with or withoutinteractivity related to the current TV show; time-shifted television:catch-up TV (replays a TV show that was broadcast hours or days ago),start-over TV (replays the current TV show from its beginning); andvideo on demand (VOD): browse a catalog of videos, not related to TVprogramming IPTV is distinguished from Internet television by itson-going standardization process (e.g., European TelecommunicationsStandards Institute) and preferential deployment scenarios insubscriber-based telecommunications networks with high-speed accesschannels into end-user premises via set-top boxes or othercustomer-premises equipment.

The term “silo,” as used herein, can be a logical representation of aninput, source, or application. An input can be a device or devices(e.g., DVD, VCR, etc.) electrically connected to the television througha port (e.g., HDMI, video/audio inputs, etc.) or through a network(e.g., LAN WAN, etc.). Rather than a device or devices, the input couldbe configured as an electrical or physical connection to one or moredevices. A source, particularly a content source, can be a data servicethat provides content (e.g., a media center, a file system, etc.). Anapplication can be a software service that provides a particular type offunction (e.g., Live TV, Video on Demand, User Applications, photographdisplay, etc.). The silo, as a logical representation, can have anassociated definition or property, such as a setting, feature, or othercharacteristic.

The term “panel,” as used herein, can mean a user interface displayed inat least a portion of the display. The panel may be interactive (e.g.,accepts user input) or informational (e.g., does not accept user input).A panel may be translucent whereby the panel obscures but does not maskthe underlying content being displayed in the display. Panels may beprovided in response to a user input from a button or remote controlinterface.

The term “screen,” as used herein, refers to a physical structure thatincludes one or more hardware components that provide the device withthe ability to render a user interface and/or receive user input. Ascreen can encompass any combination of gesture capture region, a touchsensitive display, and/or a configurable area. The device can have oneor more physical screens embedded in the hardware. However a screen mayalso include an external peripheral device that may be attached anddetached from the device. In embodiments, multiple external devices maybe attached to the device. For example, another screen may be includedwith a remote control unit that interfaces with the Intelligent TV.

The term “media” of “multimedia,” as used herein, refers to content thatmay assume one of a combination of different content forms. Multimediacan include one or more of, but is not limited to, text, audio, stillimages, animation, video, or interactivity content forms.

The term “Intelligent TV,” as used herein, refers to a televisionconfigured to provide one or more intuitive user interfaces andinteractions based on a unique application platform and architecture.The Intelligent TV utilizes processing resources associated with thetelevision to integrate Internet connectivity with parallel applicationfunctionality. This integration allows a user the ability to intuitivelyaccess various sources of media and content (e.g., Internet,over-the-top content, on-demand streaming media, over-the-air broadcastmedia, and/or other forms of information) via the Intelligent TV in aquick and efficient manner. The Intelligent TV can be a soft television.Although the Intelligent TV disclosed herein may comprise one or morecomponents of a “smart TV,” it is an aspect of the Intelligent TV toprovide expanded intuitive user interaction capability for navigatingand executing the various features of the television. A “smart TV,”sometimes referred to as a connected TV, or hybrid TV (not to beconfused with IPTV, Internet TV, or with Web TV), describes a trend ofintegration of the Internet and Web 2.0 features into television setsand set-top boxes, as well as the technological convergence betweencomputers and these television sets/set-top boxes. The smart TV deviceshave a higher focus on online interactive media, Internet TV,over-the-top content, as well as on-demand streaming media, and lessfocus on traditional broadcast media than traditional television setsand set-top boxes. As can be appreciated, the Intelligent TV encompassesa broader range of technology than that of the smart TV defined above.

The term “television” is a telecommunication medium, device (or set) orset of associated devices, programming, and/or transmission fortransmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome(black-and-white) or colored, with or without accompanying sound.Different countries use one of the three main video standards for TVs,namely PAL, NTSC or SECAM. Television is most commonly used fordisplaying broadcast television signals. The broadcast television systemis typically disseminated via radio transmissions on designated channelsin the 54-890 MHz frequency band. A common television set comprisesmultiple internal electronic circuits, including those for receiving anddecoding broadcast signals. A visual display device which lacks a tuneris properly called a video monitor, rather than a television. Atelevision may be different from other monitors or displays based on thedistance maintained between the user and the television when the userwatches the media and based on the inclusion of a tuner or otherelectronic circuit to receive the broadcast television signal.

The term “Live TV,” as used herein, refers to a television productionbroadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present.

The term “standard-definition television” (SDTV) is a television systemthat uses a resolution that is not considered to be eitherhigh-definition television (HDTV 720p and 1080p) or enhanced-definitiontelevision (EDTV 480p). The two common SDTV signal types are 576i, with576 interlaced lines of resolution, derived from the European-developedPAL and SECAM systems; and 480i based on the American NationalTelevision System Committee NTSC system. In the US, digital SDTV isbroadcast in the same 4:3 aspect ratio as NTSC signals. However, inother parts of the world that used the PAL or SECAM analog standards,standard-definition television is now usually shown with a 16:9 aspectratio. Standards that support digital SDTV broadcast include DVB, ATSCand ISDB. Television signals are transmitted in digital form, and theirpixels have a rectangular shape, as opposed to square pixels that areused in modern computer monitors and modern implementations of HDTV. Thetable below summarizes pixel aspect ratios for various kinds of SDTVvideo signal. Note that the actual image (be it 4:3 or 16:9) is alwayscontained in the center 704 horizontal pixels of the digital frame,regardless of how many horizontal pixels (704 or 720) are used. In caseof digital video signal having 720 horizontal pixels, only the center704 pixels contain actual 4:3 or 16:9 image, and the 8 pixel widestripes from either side are called nominal analogue blanking and shouldbe discarded before displaying the image. Nominal analogue blankingshould not be confused with overscan, as overscan areas are part of theactual 4:3 or 16:9 image.

The term “video on demand (VOD),” as used herein, refers to systems andprocesses which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audiocontent on demand. VOD systems may stream content, to view the contentin real time, or download the content to a storage medium for viewing ata later time.

The term “satellite positioning system receiver” refers to a wirelessreceiver or transceiver to receive and/or send location signals fromand/or to a satellite positioning system, such as the Global PositioningSystem (“GPS”) (US), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo positioning system (EU),Compass navigation system (China), and Regional Navigational SatelliteSystem (India).

The term “display,” as used herein, refers to at least a portion of ascreen used to display the output of the television to a user. A displaymay be a single-screen display or a multi-screen display, referred to asa composite display. A composite display can encompass the touchsensitive display of one or more screens. A single physical screen caninclude multiple displays that are managed as separate logical displays.Thus, different content can be displayed on the separate displaysalthough part of the same physical screen.

The term “displayed image,” as used herein, refers to an image producedon the display. A typical displayed image is a television broadcast ormenu. The displayed image may occupy all or a portion of the display.

The term “display orientation,” as used herein, refers to the way inwhich a rectangular display is oriented by a user for viewing. The twomost common types of display orientation are portrait and landscape. Inlandscape mode, the display is oriented such that the width of thedisplay is greater than the height of the display (such as a 4:3 ratio,which is 4 units wide and 3 units tall, or a 16:9 ratio, which is 16units wide and 9 units tall). Stated differently, the longer dimensionof the display is oriented substantially horizontal in landscape modewhile the shorter dimension of the display is oriented substantiallyvertical. In the portrait mode, by contrast, the display is orientedsuch that the width of the display is less than the height of thedisplay. Stated differently, the shorter dimension of the display isoriented substantially horizontal in the portrait mode while the longerdimension of the display is oriented substantially vertical.

The term “module,” as used herein, refers to any known or laterdeveloped hardware, software, firmware, artificial intelligence, fuzzylogic, or combination of hardware and software that is capable ofperforming the functionality associated with that element.

The terms “determine,” “calculate” and “compute,” and variationsthereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any typeof methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

The term “touch screen” or “touchscreen” refer to screen that canreceive user contact or other tactile input, such as a stylus. The touchscreen may sense user contact in a number of different ways, such as bya change in an electrical parameter (e.g., resistance or capacitance),acoustic wave variations, infrared radiation proximity detection, lightvariation detection, and the like. In a resistive touch screen, forexample, normally separated conductive and resistive metallic layers inthe screen pass an electrical current. When a user touches the screen,the two layers make contact in the contacted location, whereby a changein electrical field is noted and the coordinates of the contactedlocation calculated. In a capacitive touch screen, a capacitive layerstores electrical charge, which is discharged to the user upon contactwith the touch screen, causing a decrease in the charge of thecapacitive layer. The decrease is measured, and the contacted locationcoordinates determined. In a surface acoustic wave touch screen, anacoustic wave is transmitted through the screen, and the acoustic waveis disturbed by user contact. A receiving transducer detects the usercontact instance and determines the contacted location coordinates.

The term “web television” is original television content produced forbroadcast via the World Wide Web. Some major distributors of webtelevision are YouTube, Myspace, Newgrounds, Blip.tv, and Crackle.

The terms “instant message” and “instant messaging” refer to a form ofreal-time text communication between two or more people, typically basedon typed text.

The term “internet search engine” refers to a web search engine designedto search for information on the World Wide Web and FTP servers. Thesearch results are generally presented in a list of results oftenreferred to as SERPS, or “search engine results pages”. The informationmay consist of web pages, images, information and other types of files.Some search engines also mine data available in databases or opendirectories. Web search engines work by storing information about manyweb pages, which they retrieve from the html itself. These pages areretrieved by a Web crawler (sometimes also known as a spider)—anautomated Web browser which follows every link on the site. The contentsof each page are then analyzed to determine how it should be indexed(for example, words are extracted from the titles, headings, or specialfields called meta tags). Data about web pages are stored in an indexdatabase for use in later queries. Some search engines, such as Google™,store all or part of the source page (referred to as a cache) as well asinformation about the web pages, whereas others, such as AltaVista™,store every word of every page they find.

The terms “online community”, “e-community”, or “virtual community” meana group of people that primarily interact via a computer network, ratherthan face to face, for social, professional, educational or otherpurposes. The interaction can use a variety of media formats, includingwilds, blogs, chat rooms, Internet forums, instant messaging, email, andother forms of electronic media. Many media formats are used in socialsoftware separately or in combination, including text-based chatroomsand forums that use voice, video text or avatars.

The term “remote control” refers to a component of an electronicsdevice, most commonly a television set, DVD player and/or home theatersystem for operating the device wirelessly, typically from a shortline-of-sight distance. Remote control normally uses infrared and/orradio frequency (RF) signaling and can include WiFi, wireless USB,Bluetooth™ connectivity, motion sensor enabled capabilities and/or voicecontrol. A touchscreen remote control is a handheld remote controldevice which uses a touchscreen user interface to replace most of thehard, built-in physical buttons used in normal remote control devices.

The term “satellite TV” refers to television programming delivered bythe means of communications satellites and received by an outdoorantenna, usually a parabolic reflector generally referred to as asatellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellitereceiver either in the form of an external set-top box or a satellitetuner module built into a TV set.

The term “social network service” is a service provider that buildsonline communities of people, who share interests and/or activities, orwho are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.Most social network services are web-based and provide a variety of waysfor users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

The term “social network” refers to a web-based social network.

The term “gesture” refers to a user action that expresses an intendedidea, action, meaning, result, and/or outcome. The user action caninclude manipulating a device (e.g., opening or closing a device,changing a device orientation, moving a trackball or wheel, etc.),movement of a body part in relation to the device, movement of animplement or tool in relation to the device, audio inputs, etc. Agesture may be made on a device (such as on the screen) or with thedevice to interact with the device.

The term “gesture capture” refers to a sense or otherwise a detection ofan instance and/or type of user gesture. The gesture capture can occurin one or more areas of the screen. A gesture region can be on thedisplay, where it may be referred to as a touch sensitive display or offthe display where it may be referred to as a gesture capture area.

The term “electronic address” refers to any contactable address,including a telephone number, instant message handle, e-mail address,Universal Resource Locator (URL), Universal Resource Identifier (URI),Address of Record (AOR), electronic alias in a database, like addresses,and combinations thereof.

It shall be understood that the term “means,” as used herein, shall begiven its broadest possible interpretation in accordance with 35 U.S.C.,Section 112(f). Accordingly, a claim incorporating the term “means”shall cover all structures, materials, or acts set forth herein, and allof the equivalents thereof. Further, the structures, materials or actsand the equivalents thereof shall include all those described in thesummary of the invention, brief description of the drawings, detaileddescription, abstract, and claims themselves.

The term “social media” can refer to the means of interactions amongpeople in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideasin virtual communities and networks. Embodiments of social media caninclude a group of Internet-based applications that allow the creationand exchange of content. Furthermore, social media may depend on mobileand web-based technologies to create highly interactive platformsthrough which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, andmodify user-generated content. Social media differentiates fromtraditional/industrial media in many aspects such as quality, reach,frequency, usability, immediacy, and permanence.

The term “social media site” can refer to a social network or socialnetwork service.

The term “social media posting” can refer to an item of content or aprovider of content on a social media site.

The term “social media poster” can refer to an author of an item ofcontent or a provider of content on a social media site.

The term “social media pile” can refer to a user interface where eachsocial media posters is represented by a thumbnail or other visualindicia. The social media pile can include two or more thumbnails orvisual indicia formed into an arrangement that resembles a pile.

The preceding is a simplified summary of the disclosure to provide anunderstanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is neitheran extensive nor exhaustive overview of the disclosure and its variousaspects, embodiments, and/or configurations. It is intended neither toidentify key or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate thescope of the disclosure but to present selected concepts of thedisclosure in a simplified form as an introduction to the more detaileddescription presented below. As will be appreciated, other aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations of the disclosure are possibleutilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features setforth above or described in detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A includes a first view of an embodiment of an environment of anintelligent television;

FIG. 1B includes a second view of an embodiment of an environment of anintelligent television;

FIG. 2A includes a first view of an embodiment of an intelligenttelevision;

FIG. 2B includes a second view of an embodiment of an intelligenttelevision;

FIG. 2C includes a third view of an embodiment of an intelligenttelevision;

FIG. 2D includes a fourth view of an embodiment of an intelligenttelevision;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the hardware of anintelligent television;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the intelligent televisionsoftware and/or firmware;

FIG. 5 is a second block diagram of an embodiment of the intelligenttelevision software and/or firmware;

FIG. 6 is a third block diagram of an embodiment of the intelligenttelevision software and/or firmware;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an embodiment of a handheld remote control;

FIG. 8 is a side view of an embodiment of a remote control;

FIG. 9A is a bottom view of an embodiment of a remote control with ajoystick in a neutral position;

FIG. 9B is a bottom view of an embodiment of a remote control with thejoystick in a lower position;

FIG. 9C is a bottom view of an embodiment of a remote control with thejoystick in an upper position;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of another embodiment of a handheld remotecontrol;

FIG. 11A is a front view of an embodiment of an Intelligent TV screen;

FIG. 11B is a front view of an embodiment of an Intelligent TV screen;

FIG. 11C is a front view of an embodiment of an Intelligent TV screen;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a handheld remote controlof either FIG. 7 or 10;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a content data service;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a data service forstatistics and other data associated with the Intelligent TV;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a channel listingdatabase;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a media database;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a electronic programmingguide database;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a past searches database;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a statistics database;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for backgroundscanning channels;

FIG. 21 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for managingmedia;

FIG. 23 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 24 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 25 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 26 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 27 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 28 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 29 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 30 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 31 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for managingelectronic programming guide information;

FIG. 32 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 33 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 34 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 35 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for managingdata;

FIG. 36 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 37 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 38 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data;

FIG. 39 is a view of an embodiment of a user interface for anIntelligent TV for managing data; and

FIG. 40 is a flowchart view of an embodiment of a method for storingstatistics about user behavior.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a letter thatdistinguishes among the similar components. If only the first referencelabel is used in the specification, the description is applicable to anyone of the similar components having the same first reference labelirrespective of the second reference label.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Presented herein are embodiments of a device. The device can be anetwork-enabled telecommunications device, such as a television, anelectronic visual display device, or other smart device. The device caninclude one or more screens, or sections of a screen, that areconfigured to receive and present information from a number of sources.Further, the device can receive user input in unique ways. The overalldesign and functionality of the device provides for an enhanced userexperience making the device more useful and more efficient.

Intelligent Television (TV) Environment:

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, an Intelligent TV, or device, 100 isshown. It is anticipated that the Intelligent TV 100 may be used forentertainment, business applications, social interaction, contentcreation and/or consumption, and to organize and control one or moreother devices that are in communication with the Intelligent TV 100. Ascan be appreciated, the Intelligent TV 100 can be used to enhance theuser interactive experience whether at home or at work.

In some embodiments, the Intelligent TV 100 may be configured to receiveand understand a variety of user and/or device inputs. For example, auser may interface with the Intelligent TV 100 via one or more physicalor electrical controls, such as buttons, switches, touch sensitivescreens/regions (e.g., capacitive touch, resistive touch, etc.), and/orother controls associated with the Intelligent TV 100. In some cases,the Intelligent TV 100 may include the one or more interactive controls.Additionally or alternatively, the one or more controls may beassociated with a remote control. The remote control may communicatewith the Intelligent TV 100 via wired and/or wireless signals. As can beappreciated, the remote control may operate via radio frequency (RF),infrared (IR), and/or a specific wireless communications protocol (e.g.,Bluetooth™, Wi-Fi, etc.). In some cases, the controls, whether physicalor electrical, may be configured (e.g., programmed) to suit a user'spreferences.

Additionally or alternatively, smart phones, tablets, computers,laptops, netbooks, and other smart devices may be used to control theIntelligent TV 100. For example, control of the Intelligent TV 100 maybe achieved via an application running on a smart device. Theapplication may be configured to present a user with various IntelligentTV 100 controls in an intuitive user interface (UI) on a screenassociated with the device 100. The screen may be a touch sensitive, ortouch screen, display. Selections input by a user via the UI may beconfigured to control the Intelligent TV 100 by the applicationaccessing one or more communication features associated with the smartdevice.

It is anticipated that the Intelligent TV 100 can receive input viavarious input devices including, but in no way limited to, video, audio,radio, light, tactile, and combinations thereof. Among other things,these input devices may be configured to allow the Intelligent TV 100 tosee, recognize, and react to user gestures. For instance, a user maytalk to the Intelligent TV 100 in a conversational manner. TheIntelligent TV 100 may hear and understand voice commands in a mannersimilar to a smart device's intelligent personal assistant andvoice-controlled navigator application (e.g., Apple's Siri, Android'sSkyvi, Robin, Iris, and other applications).

The Intelligent TV 100 may also be a communications device which canestablish network connections 104 through many alternate means,including wired 108 or wireless 112 means, over cellular networks 116 toconnect via cellular base antenna 142 to telephone networks operated bytelephone company 146, and by using a telephone line 120 to connect totelephone networks operated by telephone company 146. These connections104 enable the Intelligent TV 100 to access one or more communicationnetworks 132. The communication networks may comprise any type of knowncommunication medium or collection of communication media and may useany type of protocols to transport messages or signals betweenendpoints. The communication networks may include wired and/or wirelesscommunication technologies. The Internet is an example of acommunication network 132 that constitutes an Internet Protocol (IP)network consisting of many computers, computing networks, and othercommunication devices located all over the world, which are connectedthrough many telephone systems and other means.

Other examples of the communication network 132 include, withoutlimitation, a standard Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), an IntegratedServices Digital Network (ISDN), the Public Switched Telephone Network(PSTN), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), acellular network, and any other type of packet-switched orcircuit-switched network known in the art. In addition, it can beappreciated that the communication network 132 need not be limited toany one network type, and instead may be comprised of a number ofdifferent networks and/or network types.

In some embodiments, the Intelligent TV 100 may be equipped withmultiple communication means. The multiple communication means may allowthe Intelligent TV 100 to communicate across Local Area Networks (LANs)124, wireless local area networks (WLANs) 128, and other networks 132.The networks 132 may be connected in a redundant manner to ensurenetwork access. In other words, if one connection is interrupted, theIntelligent TV 100 can use an alternate communications path toreestablish and/or maintain the network connection 104. Among otherthings, the Intelligent TV 100 may use these network connections 104 tosend and receive information, interact with an electronic program guide(EPG) 136, receive software updates 140, contact customer service 144(e.g., to receive help or service, etc.), and/or access remotely storeddigital media libraries 148. In addition, these connections can allowthe Intelligent TV 100 to make phone calls, send and/or receive emailmessages, send and/or receive text messages (such as email and instantmessages), surf the Internet using an internet search engine, post blogsby a blogging service, and connect/interact with social media sitesand/or an online community (e.g., Facebook™ Twitter™, LinkedIn™,Pinterest™, Google+™, MySpace™, and the like) maintained by a socialnetwork service. In combination with other components of the IntelligentTV 100 described in more detail below, these network connections 104also enable the Intelligent TV 100 to conduct video teleconferences,electronic meetings, and other communications. The Intelligent TV 100may capture and store images and sound, using associated cameras,microphones, and other sensors. Additionally or alternatively, theIntelligent TV 100 may create and save screen shots of media, images,and data displayed on a screen associated with the Intelligent TV 100.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, the Intelligent TV 100 can interact withother electronic devices 168 by either by the wired 108 and/or wireless112 connections. As described herein, components of the Intelligent TV100 allow the device 100 to be connected to devices 168 including, butnot limited to, DVD players 168 a, BluRay players 168 b, portabledigital media devices 168 c, smart phones 168 d, tablet devices 168 e,personal computers 168 f, external cable boxes 168 g, keyboards 168 h,pointing devices 168 i, printers 168 j, game controllers and/or gamepads 168 k, satellite dishes 1681, external display devices 168 m, andother universal serial bus (USB), local area network (LAN), Bluetooth™,or high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) compliant devices, and/orwireless devices. When connected to an external cable box 168 g orsatellite dish 1681, the Intelligent TV 100 can access additional mediacontent. Also, as further described below, the Intelligent TV 100 iscapable of receiving digital and/or analog signals broadcast by TVstations. The Intelligent TV 100 can be configured as one or more of astandard-definition television, enhanced television, and high-definitiontelevision. It may operate as one or more of cable, Internet, InternetProtocol, satellite, web, and/or smart television. The Intelligent TV100 may also be used to control the operation of, and may interfacewith, other smart components such as security systems 172, door/gatecontrollers 176, remote video cameras 180, lighting systems 184,thermostats 188, refrigerators 192, and other appliances.

Intelligent TV:

FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate components of the Intelligent TV 100. In general,as shown by FIG. 2A, the Intelligent TV 100 can be supported by aremovable base or stand 204 that is attached to a frame 208. The frame208 surrounds edges of a display screen 212, leaving a front surface ofthe display screen 212 uncovered. The display screen 212 may comprise aLiquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen, a plasma screen, Light. EmittingDiode (LED) screen, or other screen types. In embodiments, the entirefront surface of the screen 212 may be touch sensitive and capable ofreceiving input by the user touching the front surface of the screen212.

The Intelligent TV 100 may include integrated speakers 216 and at leastone microphone 220. A first area of the frame 208 may comprise ahorizontal gesture capture region 224 and second areas comprise verticalgesture capture regions 228. The gesture capture regions 224, 228 maycomprise areas or regions that are capable of receiving input byrecognizing gestures made by the user, and in some examples, without theneed for the user to actually touch the screen 212 surface of theIntelligent TV 100. However, the gesture capture regions 224, 228 maynot include pixels that can perform a display function or capability.

One or more image capture devices 232, such as a camera, can be includedfor capturing still and/or video images. The image capture device 232can include or be associated with additional elements, such as a flashor other light source 236 and a range finding device 240 to assistfocusing of the image capture device. In addition, the microphone 220,gesture capture regions 224, 228, image capture devices 232, and therange finding device 240 may be used by the Intelligent TV 100 torecognize individual users. Additionally or alternatively, theIntelligent TV 100 may learn and remember preferences associated withthe individual users. In some embodiments, the learning and remembering(i.e., identifying and recalling stored information) may be associatedwith the recognition of a user.

An IR transmitter and receiver 244 may also be provided to connect theIntelligent TV 100 with a remote control device (not shown) or other IRdevices. Additionally or alternatively, the remote control device maytransmit wireless signals via RF, light, and/or a means other than IR.Also shown in FIG. 2A is an audio jack 248, which may be hidden behind apanel that is hinged or removable. The audio jack 248 accommodates atip, ring, sleeve (TRS) connector, for example, to allow the user toutilize headphones, a headset, or other external audio equipment.

The Intelligent TV 100 can also include a number of buttons 252. Forexample, FIG. 2A illustrates the buttons 252 on the top of theIntelligent TV 100, although the buttons could be placed at otherlocations. As shown, the Intelligent TV 100 includes six buttons 252a-f, which can be configured for specific inputs. For example, the firstbutton 252 a may be configured as an on/off button used to controloverall system power to the Intelligent TV 100. The buttons 252 may beconfigured to, in combination or alone, control a number of aspects ofthe Intelligent TV 100. Some non-limiting examples include, but are notlimited to, overall system volume, brightness, the image capture device,the microphone, and initiation/termination of a video conference.Instead of separate buttons, two of the buttons may be combined into arocker button. This rocker button arrangement may be useful insituations where the buttons are configured to control features such asvolume or brightness. In some embodiments, one or more of the buttons252 are capable of supporting different user commands. By way ofexample, a normal press has a duration commonly of less than about 1second and resembles a quick input. A medium press has a durationcommonly of 1 second or more but less than about 12 seconds. A longpress has a duration commonly of about 12 seconds or more. The functionof the buttons is normally specific to the application that is active onthe Intelligent TV 100. In the video conference application for instanceand depending on the particular button, a normal, medium, or long presscan mean end the video conference, increase or decrease the volume,increase a rate speed associated with a response to an input, and togglemicrophone mute. Depending on the particular button, a normal, medium,or long press can also control the image capture device 232 to increasezoom, decrease zoom, take a photograph, or record video.

In support of communications functions or capabilities, the IntelligentTV 100 can include one or more shared or dedicated antennae 256 andwired broadband connections 260 as shown in FIG. 2B. The antennae 256also enable the Intelligent TV 100 to receive digital and/or analogbroadcast TV channels. The wired broadband connections 260 are, forexample, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), an optical line, an Ethernetport, an IEEE 1394 interface, or other interfaces. The Intelligent TV100 also has a telephone line jack 262 to further provide communicationscapability.

In addition to the removable base 204, the Intelligent TV 100 mayinclude hardware and mounting points 264 on a rear surface to facilitatemounting the Intelligent TV 100 to a surface, such as a wall. In oneexample, the Intelligent TV 100 may incorporate at least one VideoEquipment Standards Association (VESA) mounting interface for attachingthe device 100 to the surface.

As shown in FIG. 2C, the Intelligent TV 100 may include dockinginterfaces or ports 268. The docking ports 268 may include proprietaryor universal ports to support the interconnection of the Intelligent TV100 to other devices or components, which may or may not includeadditional or different capabilities from those integral to theIntelligent TV 100. In addition to supporting an exchange ofcommunication signals between the Intelligent TV 100 and a connecteddevice or component, the docking ports 268 can support the supply ofpower to the connected device or component. The docking ports 268 canalso comprise an intelligent element that comprises a docking module forcontrolling communications or other interactions between the IntelligentTV 100 and the connected device or component.

The Intelligent TV 100 also includes a number of card slots 272 andnetwork or peripheral interface ports 276. The card slots 272 mayaccommodate different types of cards including subscriber identitymodules (SIM), secure digital (SD) cards, MiniSD cards, flash memorycards, and other cards. Ports 276 in embodiments may includeinput/output (I/O) ports, such as universal serial bus (USB) ports,parallel ports, game ports, and high-definition multimedia interface(HDMI) connectors.

An audio/video (A/V) I/O module 280 can be included to provide audio toan interconnected speaker or other device, and to receive audio inputfrom a connected microphone or other device. As an example, the audioinput/output interface 280 may comprise an associated amplifier andanalog-to-digital converter.

Hardware Features:

FIG. 3 illustrates components of a Intelligent TV 100 in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. In general, the Intelligent TV100 includes a primary screen 304. Screen 304 can be a touch sensitivescreen and can include different operative areas.

For example, a first operative area, within the screen 304, may comprisea display 310. In some embodiments, the display 310 may be touchsensitive. In general, the display 310 may comprise a full color,display.

A second area within the screen 304 may comprise a gesture captureregion 320. The gesture capture region 320 may comprise an area orregion that is outside of the display 310 area, and that is capable ofreceiving input, for example in the form of gestures provided by a user.However, the gesture capture region 320 does not include pixels that canperform a display function or capability.

A third region of the screen 304 may comprise a configurable area 312.The configurable area 312 is capable of receiving input and has displayor limited display capabilities. In embodiments, the configurable area312 may present different input options to the user. For example, theconfigurable area 312 may display buttons or other relatable items.Moreover, the identity of displayed buttons, or whether any buttons aredisplayed at all within the configurable area 312 of a screen 304, maybe determined from the context in which the Intelligent TV 100 is usedand/or operated.

In an exemplary touch sensitive screen 304 embodiment, the touchsensitive screen 304 comprises a liquid crystal display extending acrossat least those regions of the touch sensitive screen 304 that arecapable of providing visual output to a user, and a capacitive inputmatrix over those regions of the touch sensitive screen 304 that arecapable of receiving input from the user.

One or more display controllers 316 may be provided for controlling theoperation of the screen 304. The display controller 316 may control theoperation of the touch sensitive screen 304, including input (touchsensing) and output (display) functions. The display controller 316 mayalso control the operation of the screen 304 and may interface withother inputs, such as infrared and/or radio input signals (e.g.,door/gate controllers, alarm system components, etc.). In accordancewith still other embodiments, the functions of a display controller 316may be incorporated into other components, such as a processor 364.

The processor 364 may comprise a general purpose programmable processoror controller for executing application programming or instructions. Inaccordance with at least some embodiments, the processor 364 may includemultiple processor cores, and/or implement multiple virtual processors.In accordance with still other embodiments, the processor 364 mayinclude multiple physical processors. As a particular example, theprocessor 364 may comprise a specially configured application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) or other integrated circuit, a digital signalprocessor, a controller, a hardwired electronic or logic circuit, aprogrammable logic device or gate array, a special purpose computer, orthe like. The processor 364 generally functions to run programming codeor instructions implementing various functions of the Intelligent TV100.

In support of connectivity functions or capabilities, the Intelligent TV100 can include a module for encoding/decoding and/orcompression/decompression 366 for receiving and managing digitaltelevision information. Encoding/decoding compression/decompressionmodule 366 enables decompression and/or decoding of analog and/ordigital information dispatched by a public television chain or in aprivate television network and received across antenna 324, I/O module348, wireless connectivity module 328, and/or other wirelesscommunications module 332. The television information may be sent toscreen 304 and/or attached speakers receiving analog or digitalreception signals. Any encoding/decoding and compression/decompressionis performable on the basis of various formats (e.g., audio, video, anddata). Encrypting module 368 is in communication with encoding/decodingcompression/decompression module 366 and enables the confidentiality ofall the data received or transmitted by the user or supplier.

In support of communications functions or capabilities, the IntelligentTV 100 can include a wireless connectivity module 328. As examples, thewireless connectivity module 328 can comprise a GSM, CDMA, FDMA and/oranalog cellular telephony transceiver capable of supporting voice,multimedia and/or data transfers over a cellular network. Alternativelyor in addition, the Intelligent TV 100 can include an additional orother wireless communications module 332. As examples, the otherwireless communications module 332 can comprise a Wi-Fi, Blutooth™,WiMax, infrared, or other wireless communications link. The wirelessconnectivity module 328 and the other wireless communications module 332can each be associated with a shared or a dedicated antenna 324 and ashared or dedicated I/O module 348.

An input/output module 348 and associated ports may be included tosupport communications over wired networks or links, for example withother communication devices, server devices, and/or peripheral devices.Examples of an input/output module 348 include an Ethernet port, aUniversal Serial Bus (USB) port, Thunderbolt™ or Light Peak interface,Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 port, orother interface.

An audio input/output interface/device(s) 344 can be included to provideanalog audio to an interconnected speaker or other device, and toreceive analog audio input from a connected microphone or other device.As an example, the audio input/output interface/device(s) 344 maycomprise an associated amplifier and analog-to-digital converter.Alternatively or in addition, the Intelligent TV 100 can include anintegrated audio input/output device 356 and/or an audio jack forinterconnecting an external speaker or microphone. For example, anintegrated speaker and an integrated microphone can be provided, tosupport near talk or speaker phone operations.

A port interface 352 may be included. The port interface 352 may includeproprietary or universal ports to support the interconnection of thedevice 100 to other devices or components, such as a dock, which may ormay not include additional or different capabilities from those integralto the device 100. In addition to supporting an exchange ofcommunication signals between the device 100 and another device orcomponent, the docking port 136 and/or port interface 352 can supportthe supply of power to or from the device 100. The port interface 352also comprises an intelligent element that comprises a docking modulefor controlling communications or other interactions between theIntelligent TV 100 and a connected device or component. The dockingmodule may interface with software applications that allow for theremote control of other devices or components (e.g., media centers,media players, and computer systems).

An Intelligent TV 100 may also include memory 308 for use in connectionwith the execution of application programming or instructions by theprocessor 364, and for the temporary or long term storage of programinstructions and/or data. As examples, the memory 308 may comprise RAM,DRAM, SDRAM, or other solid state memory. Alternatively or in addition,data storage 314 may be provided. Like the memory 308, the data storage314 may comprise a solid state memory device or devices. Alternativelyor in addition, the data storage 314 may comprise a hard disk drive orother random access memory.

Hardware buttons 358 can be included for example for use in connectionwith certain control operations. One or more image captureinterfaces/devices 340, such as a camera, can be included for capturingstill and/or video images. Alternatively or in addition, an imagecapture interface/device 340 can include a scanner, code reader, ormotion sensor. An image capture interface/device 340 can include or beassociated with additional elements, such as a flash or other lightsource. The image capture interfaces/devices 340 may interface with auser ID module 350 that assists in identifying users of the IntelligentTV 100.

The Intelligent TV 100 can also include a global positioning system(GPS) receiver 336. In accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention, the GPS receiver 336 may further comprise a GPS module thatis capable of providing absolute location information to othercomponents of the Intelligent TV 100. As will be appreciated, othersatellite-positioning system receivers can be used in lieu of or inaddition to GPS.

Power can be supplied to the components of the Intelligent TV 100 from apower source and/or power control module 360. The power control module360 can, for example, include a battery, an AC-to-DC converter, powercontrol logic, and/or ports for interconnecting the Intelligent TV 100to an external source of power.

Communication between components of the Intelligent TV 100 is providedby bus 322. Bus 322 may comprise one or more physical buses for control,addressing, and/or data transmission. Bus 322 may be parallel, serial, ahybrid thereof, or other technology.

Firmware and Software:

An embodiment of the software system components and modules 400 is shownin FIG. 4. The software system 400 may comprise one or more layersincluding, but not limited to, an operating system kernel 404, one ormore libraries 408, an application framework 412, and one or moreapplications 416. The one or more layers 404-416 can communicate witheach other to perform functions for the Intelligent TV 100.

An operating system (OS) kernel 404 contains the primary functions thatallow the software to interact with hardware associated with theIntelligent TV 100. Kernel 404 can include a collection of software thatmanages the computer hardware resources and provides services for othercomputer programs or software code. The operating system kernel 404 isthe main component of the operating system and acts as an intermediarybetween the applications and data processing done with the hardwarecomponents. Part of the operating system kernel 404 can include one ormore device drivers 420. A device driver 420 can be any code within theoperating system that helps operate or control a device or hardwareattached to or associated with the Intelligent TV. The driver 420 caninclude code for operating video, audio, and/or other multimediacomponents of the Intelligent TV 100. Examples of drivers includedisplay, camera, flash, binder (IPC), keypad, WiFi, and audio drivers.

Library 408 can contain code or other components that may be accessedand implemented during the operation of the software system 400. Thelibrary 408 may contain one or more of, but is not limited to, anoperating system runtime library 424, a TV services hardware abstractionlayer (HAL) library 428, and/or a data service library 432. The OSruntime library 424 may contain the code required by the operatingsystem kernel 404 or other operating system functions to be executedduring the runtime of the software system 400. The library can includethe code that is initiated during the running of the software system400.

The TV services hardware abstraction layer library 428 can include coderequired by TV services either executed in the application framework 412or an application 416. The TV services HAL library 428 is specific tothe Intelligent TV 100 operations that control different functions ofthe Intelligent TV. The TV service HAL library 428 can also be formedfrom other types of application languages or embodiments of differenttypes of code or formats for code beyond the hardware abstraction layer.

The data services library 432 can include the one or more components orcodes to implement components for the data services function. The dataservices function can be implemented in the application framework 412and/or applications layer 416. An embodiment of a function of the dataservices and the type of components that may be included is shown inFIG. 6.

The application framework 412 can include a general abstraction forproviding functionality that can be selected by one or more applications416 to provide specific application functions or software for thoseapplications. Thus, the framework 412 can include one or more differentservices, or other applications, that can be accessed by theapplications 416 to provide general functions across two or moreapplications. Such functions include, for example, management of one ormore of windows or panels, surfaces, activities, content, and resources,The application framework 412 can include one or more, but is notlimited to, TV services 434, TV services framework 440, TV resources444, and user interface components 448.

The TV services framework 440 can provide an additional abstraction fordifferent TV services. TV services framework 440 allows for the generalaccess and function of services that are associated with the TVfunctionality. The TV services 436 are general services provided withinthe TV services framework 440 that can be accessed by applications inthe applications layer 416. The TV resources 444 provide code foraccessing TV resources 444 including any type of storage, video, audio,or other functionality provided with the Intelligent TV 100. The TVresources 444, TV services 436, and TV services framework 440 providefor the different implementations of TV functionality that may occurwith the Intelligent TV 100.

One or more user interface components 448 can provide general componentsfor display of the Intelligent TV 100. The user interface components 448might be general components that may be accessed by differentapplications provided in the application framework 412. The userinterface components 448 may be accessed to provide for panels and silosas described in conjunction with FIG. 5.

The applications layer 416 can both contain and execute applicationsassociated with the Intelligent TV 100. Applications layer 416 mayinclude one or more of, but is not limited to, a live TV application452, a video on demand application 456, a media center application 460,an application center application 464, and a user interface application468. The live TV application 452 can provide live TV over differentsignal sources. For example, the live TV application 452 can provide TVfrom input from cable television, over air broadcasts, from satelliteservices, or other types of live TV services. Live TV application 452may then present the multimedia presentation or video and audiopresentation of the live television signal over the display of theIntelligent TV 100.

The video on demand application 456 can provide for video from differentstorage sources. Unlike Live TV application 452, video on demand 456provides for display of videos that are accessed from some memorysource. The sources of the video on demand can be associated with usersor with the Intelligent TV or some other type of service. For example,the video on demand 456 may be provided from an iTunes library stored ina cloud, from a local disc storage that contains stored video programs,or from some other source.

The media center application 460 can provide applications for differenttypes of media presentation. For example, the media center 460 canprovide for displaying pictures or audio that is different from, butstill accessible by the user and different from live TV or video ondemand. The media center 460 allows for the access of different sourcesto obtain the media in the display of such media on the Intelligent TV100.

The application center 464 allows for the provision, storage and use ofapplications. An application can be a game, a productivity application,or some other application generally associated with computer systems orother devices, but may be operated within the Intelligent TV. Anapplication center 464 may obtain these applications from differentsources, store them locally and then execute those types of applicationsfor the user on the Intelligent TV 100.

User interface application 468 provides for the specific user interfacesassociated with the Intelligent TV 100. These user interfaces caninclude the silos and panels that are described in FIG. 5. An embodimentof the user interface software 500 is shown in FIG. 5. Here theapplication framework 412 contains one or more code components whichhelp control the user interface events while one or more applications inthe applications layer 416 affects the user interface use for theIntelligent TV 100. The application framework 412 can include a silotransition controller 504 and/or an input event dispatcher 508. Theremay be more or fewer code components in the application framework 412than those shown in FIG. 5. The silo transition controller 504 containsthe code and language that manages the transitions between one or moresilos. A silo can be a vertical user interface feature on theIntelligent TV that contains information for user. The transitioncontroller 504 can manage the changes between two silos when an eventoccurs in the user interface. The input event dispatcher 508 can receiveuser interface events that may be received from the operating system andprovided to the input event dispatcher 508. These events can includeselections of buttons on a remote control or on the TV or other types ofuser interface inputs. The input event dispatcher 508 may then sendthese events to a silo manager 532 or panel manager 536 depending on thetype of the event. The silo transition controller 504 can interface withthe silo manager 532 to affect changes in the silos.

The applications layer 416 can include a user interface application 468and/or a silo application 512. The applications layer 416 can includemore or fewer user interface applications as necessary to control theuser interface of the Intelligent TV 100 than those shown in FIG. 5. Theuser interface application 468 can include a silo manager 532, a panelmanager 536, and one or more types of panels 516-528. The silo manager532 manages the display and/or features of silos. The silo manager 532can receive or send information from the silo transition controller 504or the input event dispatcher 508 to change the silos displayed and/orto determine types of input received in the silos.

A panel manager 536 is operable to display panels in the user interfaceto manage transitions between those panels or to affect user interfaceinputs received in the panel. The panel manager 536 may thus be incommunication with different user interface panels such as a globalpanel 516, a volume panel 520, a settings panel 524, and/or anotification panel 528. The panel manager 536 can display these types ofpanels depending on the inputs received from the input event dispatcher508. The global panel 516 may include information that is associatedwith the home screen or top level hierarchal information for the user. Avolume panel 520 may display information about an audio volume controlor other settings for volume. A settings panel 524 can includeinformation displayed about the settings of the audio or video, or othersettable characteristics of the Intelligent TV 100. A notification panel528 can provide information about notifications to a user. Thesenotifications can be associated with information, such as, video ondemand displays, favorites, currently provided programs, or otherinformation. Notifications can be associated with the media or with sometype of setting, or operation or the Intelligent TV 100. The panelmanager 536 may be in communication with the panel controller 552 of thesilo application 512.

The panel controller 552 may operate to control portions of the panelsof the types described previously. Thus, the panel controller 552 may bein communication with a top panel application 540, an application panel544, and/or bottom panel 548. These types of panels may be differentlydisplayed in the user interface of the Intelligent TV 100. The panelcontrol thus may be based on the configuration of the system or the typeof display being used currently, put the types of panels 516-528 into acertain display orientation governed by the top panel application 540,application panel 544, or bottom panel application 548.

An embodiment of the data service 432 and the operation of the datamanagement is shown in FIG. 6. The data management 600 can include oneor more code components that are associated with different types ofdata. For example, there may be code components within the data service432 that execute and are associated with video on demand, the electronicprogram guide, or media data. There may be more or fewer types of dataservice 432 components than those shown in FIG. 6. Each of the differenttypes of data may include a data model 604-612. The data models governwhat information is to be stored and how that information will be storedby the data service. Thus, the data model can govern regardless of wherethe data comes from, how the data will be received or managed within theIntelligent TV system. Thus, the data model 604, 608, and/or 612, canprovide a translation ability or affect the ability to translate datafrom one form to another to be used by the Intelligent TV 100.

The different types of data services (video on demand, electronicprogramming guide, media) each have a data subservice 620, 624, and/or628 that is in communication with one or more internal and/or externalcontent providers 616. The data subservices 620, 624, and 628 thatcommunicate with the content providers 616 to obtain data that may thenbe stored in databases 632, 636, and 640. The subservices 620, 624, and628 may communicate with and initiate or enable one or more sourceplug-ins 644, 648, and 652 to communicate with the content provider. Foreach content provider 616, there may be a different source plug-in 644,648, and 652. Thus, if there is more than one source of content for thedata, each of the data subservices 620, 624, and 628 may determine andthen enable or initiate a different source plug-in 644, 648, and/or 652.The content providers 616 may also provide information to a resourcearbitrator 656 and/or thumbnail cache manager 660. The resourcearbitrator 656 may operate to communicate with resources 664 that areexternal to the data service 432. Thus, the resource arbitrator 656 maycommunicate with cloud based storage, network based storage, or othertypes of external storage in the resources 664. This information maythen be provided through the content provider module 616 to the datasubservices 620, 624, 628. Likewise, a thumbnail cache manager 660 mayobtain thumbnail information from one of the data subservices 620, 624,628 and store that information in the thumbnails database 668. Further,the thumbnail cache manager 660 may extract or retrieve that informationfrom the thumbnails database 668 to provide to one of the datasubservices 620, 624, 628.

An exemplary content aggregation architecture 1300 is shown in FIG. 13.The architecture can include a user interface layer 1304 and a contentaggregation layer 1308. The user interface layer 1304 may include a TVapplication 1312, media player 1316, and application(s) 1320. The TVapplication 1312 enables the viewer to view channels received via anappropriate transmission medium, such as cable, satellite, and/or theInternet. The media player 1316 views other types of media received viaan appropriate transmission medium, such as the Internet. Theapplication(s) 1320 include other TV-related (pre-installed)applications, such as content viewing, content searching, deviceviewing, and setup algorithms, and coordinates with the media player1316 to provide information to the viewer.

The content source layer 1308 includes, as data services, a contentsource service 1328, a content aggregation service 1332 and a contentpresentation service 1336. The content source service 1328 can managecontent source investigators, including local and/or network filesystem(s), digital network device manager (which discovers handheld andnon-handheld devices (e.g., digital media servers, players, renderers,controllers, printers, uploaders, downloaders, network connectivityfunctions, and interoperability units) by known techniques, such as amulticast universal plug and play or UPnP discovery techniques, and, foreach discovered device, retrieves, parses, and encodes devicedescriptors, notifies the content source service of the newly discovereddevice, and provides information, such as an index, on previouslydiscovered devices), Internet Protocol Television or IPTV, digitaltelevision or DTV (including high definition and enhanced TV), thirdparty services (such as those referenced above), and applications (suchas Android applications).

Content source investigators can track content sources and are typicallyconfigured as binaries. The content source service 1328 starts contentsource investigators and maintains open and persistent channels forcommunications. The communications include query or command and responsepairs. The content aggregation service 1332 can manage content metadatafetchers, such as for video, audio, and/or picture metadata. The contentpresentation service 1336 may provide interfaces to the content index1340, such as an Android application interface and digital deviceinterfaces.

The content source service 1328 can send and receive communications 1344to and from the content aggregation service 1332. The communications caninclude notifications regarding new and removed digital devices and/orcontent and search queries and results. The content aggregation service1332 can send and receive communications 1348 to and from the contentpresentation service 1336 including device and/or content lookupnotifications, content-of-interest advisories and notifications, andsearch queries and results.

When a search is performed, particularly when the user is searching orbrowsing content, a user request may be received from the user interfacelayer 1300, by the content presentation service 1336, which responsivelyopens a socket and sends the request to the content aggregation service1332. The content aggregation service 1332 first returns results fromthe local database 1340. The local database 1340 includes an index ordata model and indexed metadata. The content source service 1328 furtherissues search and browse requests for all content source investigatorsand other data management systems. The results are forwarded to thecontent aggregation service 1332, which updates the database 1340 toreflect the further search results and provides the original contentaggregation database search results and the data updates, reflecting theadditional content source service search results, over the previouslyopened socket to the content presentation service 1336. The contentpresentation service 1336 then provides the results to one or morecomponents in the user interface layer 1300 for presentation to theviewer. When the search session is over (e.g., the search session isterminated by the user or by an action associated with user), the userinterface layer 1300 disconnects the socket. As shown, media can beprovided directly by the content aggregation service 1332 to the mediaplayer 1316 for presentation to the user.

Remote Control:

A handheld remote control can be provided to enable user interactionwith the Intelligent TV 100. An exemplary handheld remote control isshown in FIGS. 7-9. The remote control 700 can include one or more of,but is not limited to, top, side and bottom housings 704, 708, and 712,an (on/off) power button 716, an input source button 720 (to selectinput source such as Live TV, video on demand, media center, applicationcenter, high definition multimedia interface or HDMI, component or COMP,audio/Video or A/V, digital or analog television or DTV/ATV, and videographics array (VGA)), a (volume) mute button 724, a Live TV button 728(to activate or select the Live TV silo), a video on demand (VOD) button732 (to activate or select the video on demand silo), a media centerbutton 736 (to activate or select the media center application or silo,which access various types of media such as music, TV programming,videos, and the like), an application center button 740 (to activate orselect the application center application or silo), a global panelbutton 744, an application panel button 748, a back button 752 (toselect a prior user operation or Intelligent TV state and/or navigate upa hierarchy of any displayed image or object(s) (in which case the backbutton 752 does not navigate within application panels or acrossapplication silos), a play button 756 (to play or pause media), a D-pad760 (which includes north, east, west, and south directional arrows tonavigate among displayed images and/or move between levels of anapplication's or object's hierarchy such as application view navigation,panel navigation, and collection navigation), an OK (or select) button764 (to select a highlighted displayed image (such as displayed speedcontrol, rewind, forward, play, and pause objects and/or objects on menubar or in a menu box) and/or navigate down a hierarchy of any displayedimage or object(s)), a rocker-type volume-up and volume-down button 768(to adjust the volume), a menu/guide button 772 (to select for display amenu or guide of programming), a 0-9 (number) button 776 (to display anumber pad on the TV screen), a settings button 780 (which launches anapplication to access current and change TV settings (such as channelsettings and settings used to adjust picture and sound effects (e.g.,image mode (e.g., standard, playground, game, cinema, concert, andstudio), brightness, contrast, saturation, color temperature, energysavings, 3D noise reduction, hue, sharpness, zoom mode (e.g., fullscreen, standard, smart zoom, and dot-to-dot), picture position, 3Dmode, for picture, and sound retrieval system or SRS TruSurround, soundmode (e.g., standard, live 1, live 2, theatre, music, speech, userequalizer mode, Left/Right speaker balance, auto volume control,Sony/Philips Interconnect Format or S/PDIF (off, auto, pulse codemodulation or PCM) for sound) and system settings (such as system (e.g.,selected language for graphical user interface, user geographical and/orgeopolitical location information, input method, area settings, andsleep time), network (e.g., WiFi, WiFi hotspot, WiFi direct,Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet or PPPoE (asymmetric digitalsubscriber line or ADSL), Ethernet) settings (e.g., enabled and disabledand selected and non-selected) and information (e.g., networkinformation (e.g., electronic address such as Internet Protocol or IPaddress, subnet mask, gateway, domain name server information, domainname, Media Access Control or MAC address, service set identification orSSID, security information, and password information) and inlinestatus), manage applications (e.g., currently installed applications,currently executing applications, and internal and external computerreadable medium usage), and view user information regarding theIntelligent TV 100)), a rocker-type channel-up and channel-down button784 (to increment or decrement the selected channel), and first, second,third and fourth hotkeys 788, 792, 794, and 796, and/or a moveablejoystick 900 on a bottom of the remote control 700. The first, second,third, and fourth hotkeys are generally assigned different colors, whichcolor indexing is depicted as visual indicia on a selected panel to showthe currently assigned function, if any, for each hotkey. As can beseen, the actuator layout can provide a highly efficient, satisfactory,and easily usable experience to the end user.

Unlike the functional associations and functions of many of theactuators, those of some of the actuators are not readily apparent. Anumber of examples will now be discussed by way of illustration.

The media center button 736, when selected, can provide informationregarding music, videos, photographs, collections or groupings of music,videos, and/or photographs, and internal and external computationaldevices (such as personal computers, laptops, tablet computers, wirelessphones, removable computer readable media, and the like), which can begrouped in a selected manner (such as favorites, most recently viewed,most watched or viewed, and most recently added). The information canincludes previews (which can include selected portions of the mediacontent, duration, file size, date created, date last watched, timeswatched or viewed, and audio and/or video format information).

The application center button 740, when selected, may provideinformation regarding pre-installed and downloaded applications. Unlikedownloaded applications, pre-installed applications cannot be removed bythe user or manually updated. Exemplary pre-installed applicationsinclude web browser, settings control, and content search algorithms. Byway of illustration, the application center button 740 can provide ascrollable graphical grid of icons (each icon being associated with anapplication) currently available in the application center.

The global panel button 744, when selected, can provide the user, viaone or more panels or windows, with access to one or more of, but notlimited to, silos, notifications, a web browser, system settings, and/orinformation associated therewith. For example, the global panel button744 can enable the user to determine what external devices are currentlyconnected to and/or disconnected from the Intelligent TV 100, determinewhat inputs (e.g., HDMI ports) are currently available for connecting toexternal devices, determine a connection and/or operational status of aselected external device and/or network (e.g., WiFi connected, Ethernetconnected, and offline), assign a custom (or user selected) name to eachinput source, determine what content is currently being offered on LiveTV, on demand, the media center, and/or the application center, accessvendor messages and notifications to the user (e.g., system and/orapplication updates are available), activate the Internet browser,and/or access shortcuts on a displayed shortcut bar to more frequentlyused and desired applications. Common shortcuts are Internet browser(e.g., Internet search engine), system settings, and notifications. Thecommon types of panels are for information (which is typicallyinformation related to a currently displayed image and/or content (e.g.,title, date/time, audio/visual indicator, rating, and genre), browserequests, and/or search requests (such as search term field)). Each ofthe panel types may include a panel navigation bar, detailed informationor relevant content to the panel function, operation and/or purpose, anda hotkey bar (defining currently enabled functional associations ofhotkeys).

The application panel button 748, when selected, can display anapplication window or panel. One application panel may be an informationpanel regarding a selected (pre-installed or previously downloaded)application icon. The information panel can one or more of identify theselected application, provide a description of the functionality(including application developer and/or vendor, version, release, and/orlast update date and a category or type of application based on theapplication's functionality) and user ratings and/or degree of otheruser downloading of the application (e.g., a star rating assigned basedon one or more of the foregoing inputs), provide the option to launch,remove, update, and add to favorites the identified application, andprovide a listing of selectable links of other (not yet downloaded)recommended applications that provide similar functionality to theidentified application. The latter listing can, in turn, provide adescription of the functionality (including application developer and/orvendor, version, release, and/or last update date and a category or typeof application based on the application's functionality) and userratings and/or degree of other user downloading of the application(e.g., a star rating assigned based on one or more of the foregoinginputs).

The functions of the first, second, third, and fourth hotkeys 788, 792,794, and 796 can change depending on system state, context, and/or,within a selected screen and/or panel, based on a content or currentlyselected portion of (or relative cursor position on) the screen.Commonly, a currently assigned function of any of the first, second,third, and fourth hotkeys 788, 792, 794, and 796 depends on a currentlyaccessed silo and/or panel (with which the user is currently interactingwithin the silo). In other words, a first function of one of the first,second, third, and fourth hotkeys 788, 792, 794, and 796 is activated bythe respective hotkey in a first system state while a different secondfunction is activated by the respective hotkey in a different secondsystem state. In another example, a third function of one of the first,second, third, and fourth hotkeys 788, 792, 794, and 796 is activated bythe respective hotkey when a user focus (or currently selected cursorposition or screen portion) is at a first screen position while adifferent fourth function is activated by the respective hotkey when auser focus (or currently selected cursor position or screen portion) isat a different second screen position. The first screen position can,for instance, be within an icon while the second screen position isoutside of the icon. Hotkey functionality that could be enabled when inthe first screen position may be “configure” and “remove” and disabledis “add”, and, when in the second position hotkey functionality enabledcan be “add” and disabled is “configure” and “remove”. Generally, thestates of hotkeys can include normal (for enabled actions or functions),disabled (when an action or function is temporarily disabled), pressed(when selected by a user to command an action or function to beperformed), and unavailable (when no association between the hotkey andan action or function is currently available). While examples of hotkeyfunctions are discussed below, it is to be understood that these are notintended to be exhaustive or limiting examples.

The first hotkey 788, when selected in a first system state, can enablethe user to assign, change, or edit a name of an input source. It istypically enabled only when the input source of HDMI, Comp/YPbPr (e.g.,component video cables), video output, and VGA is in focus. Whenselected in a second system state, the first hotkey 788 can return theuser to a top of a scrollable collection of objects, such as applicationicons.

The second hotkey 792 may show all or less. In other words, the hotkey792 can allow the user to show all inputs, including theunconnected/undetected ones and to hide the unconnected/undetectedinputs, e.g., to expand and collapse the silo/input list. Each inputsource can have one of two states, namely connected/detected andunconnected/undetected. Some input sources, including Live TV, video ondemand, media center, and application center are alwaysconnected/detected.

The moveable joystick 900 on the bottom of the remote control 700, whenmanipulated, can cause a displayed image on the Intelligent TV 100screen to be displaced a proportional amount. In other words, thedisplayed image is displaced substantially simultaneously withdisplacement of the joystick 900 within the joystick aperture 904 in thebottom housing 712 of the remote control. As shown in FIGS. 9B-C, thejoystick 900 moves or slides between forward and reverse positions.Releasing the joystick 900 causes the joystick 900 to return to thecenter position of FIG. 9A, and the window to move or slide upwardly(when the joystick is released from the joystick position of FIG. 9B) ordownwardly (when the joystick is released from the joystick position ofFIG. 9C) until it disappears from view as shown in FIG. 11A. The effecton the screen of the Intelligent TV 100 is shown in FIGS. 11A-C. In FIG.11A, video content, such as TV programming, a video, movie, and thelike, is being displayed by front surface of the screen 212. In FIG.11B, the joystick 900 is moved or slid to the upper position of FIG. 9B,and a drop down window or panel 1100 moves or slides down (at thesubstantially the same rate of joystick 900 movement) at the top of thescreen 212. In FIG. 11C, the joystick 900 is moved or slid to the lowerposition of FIG. 9C, and a drop up window or panel 1100 moves or slidesup (at the substantially the same rate of joystick 900 movement) at thebottom of the screen 212. The window 1100 partially covers the videocontent appearing on the remainder of the screen 212 and/or causes aportion of the screen 212 displaying video content to move and/orcompress up or down the height of the window 1100.

The window 1100 can include one or more of information (which istypically information related to a currently displayed image and/orcontent (e.g., panel navigation bar, detailed information (e.g., title,date/time, audio/visual indicator, rating, and genre), and hotkey bar(defining current functional associations of hotkeys)), browse requests,and/or search requests. Commonly, the window 1100 includes suitableinformation about the content (such as name, duration, and/or remainingviewing duration of content), settings information, TV or system controlinformation, application (activation) icons (such as for pre-installedand/or downloaded applications such as application center, media centerand Web browser), and/or information about input source(s), When thejoystick 900 is in either the forward or reverse position, the user canselect an actuator on the front of the remote control, such as the OKbutton 764, and be taken, by displayed images on the screen 212, toanother location in the user interface, such as a desktop. This processcan be done in a nonintrusive manner and without affecting the flow ofcontent that is pushed up or down. The joystick 900 could be moved,additionally or differently, from side-to-side to cause the window toappear at the left or right edge of the screen 212.

An alternative actuator configuration is shown in FIG. 10. The actuatorsare substantially the same as those of FIGS. 7-9 except that the socialnetwork button 1000, when selected, can automatically select content andpublish, via a social network service or other social media, the contentto a social network or online community. User or viewer comments and/orother messages can be included in the outbound message. For example, allor one or frames or portions of media content (such as a video, music, aphotograph, a picture, or text) can be provided automatically to apredetermined or selected group of people via LinkedIn™, Myspace™,Twitter™, YouTube™, DailyMotion™, Facebook™, Google+™) or Second Life™.The user, upon activating the button 1000 could, in response, select asocial forum or media upon which the selected content (which is thecontent displayed to the user when the social network button 1000 isactivated) is to be posted and/or a predetermined group within thatsocial media to which the content is to be posted. Alternatively, theseselections could be preconfigured or preselected by the user.

The social network button can also be used to “turn up” or “turn down” asocial volume visualization. The Intelligent TV 100 can createdynamically a visualization of aggregated connections (and inboundand/or outbound messages) from a variety of social networks. Theaggregation (and inbound and outbound messages) can be depictedgraphically on the screen as a volume of connections to influence theviewer user. With a social volume visualization, selected contents ofeach linked social network profile of a social contact (and inboundand/or outbound messages from or to the linked social network contactand/or current activity of the social contact (such as watching the sameprogramming or content the viewer is currently watching) can bepresented in a separate tile (or visually displayed object). The size ofthe tile can be related to any number of criteria, including arelationship of the linked social contact (e.g., a relative degree ofimportance or type of relationship can determine the relative size ofthe tile, a degree of influence of the linked social contact to thecurrent viewer, a geographic proximity of the linked social contact tothe current viewer, a degree to which the currently provided mediacontent is of interest to both the viewer and linked social contact(e.g., both parties enjoy war movies, murder mysteries, musicals,comedies, and the like), an assigned ranking of the linked viewer by theviewer, a type of social network type linking the viewer with the linkedsocial contact, a current activity of the social network contact (e.g.,currently watching the same content that the viewer is currentlywatching), a current online or offline status of the linked socialcontact, and a social network grouping type or category to which boththe viewer and linked social contact belong (e.g., work contact, bestfriend, family member, etc.).

The viewer can designate a portion of the screen to depict the socialnetwork aggregation. By turning the social volume up (+) or down (−),the viewer can increase the size and/or numbers of linked contact tilesprovided to the viewer. In other words, by increasing the social volumethe viewer can view, access, and/or push more social content from thoseof his or her social networks associated with him or her in a memory ofthe Intelligent TV. By decreasing the social volume, the viewer canview, access, and/or push less social content from his or her associatedsocial networks. By selecting the mute button 724, the viewer can stopor pause any interactivity with his or her associated social networks(e.g., inbound or outbound messages). Social volume and/or mute can beseparated into two (or more) volume settings for outbound and inboundsocial network activity. By way of illustration, a first volume setting,control, and/or button can control the volume for outbound socialnetwork activity (e.g., outbound social messages) while a second(different) volume setting, control, and/or button can control thevolume for inbound social network activity (e.g., inbound socialmessages). By way of further illustration, a first mute setting,control, and/or button can stop or pause outbound social networkactivity (e.g., outbound social messages) while a second (different)mute setting, control, and/or button can stop or pause inbound socialnetwork activity (e.g., inbound social messages).

A functional block diagram of the remote control is shown in FIG. 12.The remote control 700 includes a controller 1208 to control andsupervise remote control operations, optional wireless (RF) transceiver1224 and antenna 1244 to send and receive wireless signals to and fromthe Intelligent TV 100 and other external components, optional infraredemitter 1228 to emit infrared signals to the Intelligent TV 100,optional light emitting diode or LED driver 1232 to control LEDoperation to provide video-enabled feedback to the user, actuators 1220(including the various buttons and other actuators discussed above inconnection with FIGS. 7 and 10), and joystick 900, all interconnectedvia a bus 1248. An on board power source 1200 and power managementmodule 1204 provide power to each of these components via powercircuitry 1240. The infrared emitter 1228 and receiver (not shown) onthe Intelligent TV system 100 can be used to determine a displayedobject illuminated by the infrared signal and therefore adjust thedisplayed image, for example to indicate a focus of the user (e.g.,illuminate a displayed object or show cursor position relative todisplayed objects on the screen) and to determine and activate a desiredcommand of the user. This can be done by tracking a position of theremote control in relation to infrared tracking reference points (e.g.,a sensor bar or infrared LED's) positioned on or adjacent to the screenof the Intelligent TV 100. Motion tracking can further be augmentedusing position information received from a multi-axis gyroscope and/oraccelerometer on board the remote control (not shown).

Another example of the data service 432 is shown in FIG. 14. The systemshown in FIG. 14 may supplement or be an alternative to the systemdescribed in FIG. 13. Thus, any description herein mentioning thecomponents of FIG. 14 may also apply to the system described in FIG. 13.Here, the data service 432 includes the ability to update live TVapplications or content, and to record, store, manage, and retrieve dataor statistics about user viewing habits. The live TV data can begoverned by a live TV data model 1404. The live TV data model 1404 caninclude a description of what data is stored, how the date is stored,and in what areas of memory the date is stored. This information is usedto ensure a consistent storage process and routine for the live TV data.

Live TV data can include information about channel availability for theuser. This information may be updated periodically as the user may addcontent channels to their TV subscription. For example, the user may, atsome point, add a subscription or paid TV channel to their live TVcontent. The live TV data model 1404 stores the information about whichchannels are available for the user to view. To obtain the live TV datainformation, a live TV subservice 1408 may communicate with contentprovider 616 to obtain the information.

A live TV subservice 1408 can store data into a database 1412. The liveTV subservice 1408 may also instantiate an instance of a live TV sourceplug-in 1416 operable to scan for content channels. The live TVsubservice may receive information from, or communicate with, thecontent providers 616 to effectuate the scanning of channels and therecordation of which channels the user has available. Here, the live TVsource plug-in 1416 may be called by the live TV subservice 1408 todetermine channels during a period when setting up the IntelligentTelevision 100.

The live TV source plug-in 1416 may interact with the processor 364 toscan information being received from an antenna 324. The antenna signal324 may be sent to an encoding/decoding compression/decompression module366 and then sent onto the bus 322 for analysis. The processor 364 maythen execute the live TV source plug-in 1416 to look for information ordata indicative of a channel in the information provided by module 366.The TV data may be digital and the channels may be determined by whichcontent is provided in which area of the digital stream. In otherembodiments, the TV signal may be an analog signal, and the processor364 may determine which data is in which frequency range. The live TVsource plug-in module 1416 may determine these different types ofcontent sources in the TV stream and provide that information to thelive TV subservice 1408 for storage in database 1412. The database 1412may be updated with this information during a setup of the IntelligentTelevision 100, and then periodically updated based on changes in thesignal.

User statistics may be stored by, or in accordance with, a statisticsmodel 1420. The statistics model 1420 can govern what information willbe recorded, how that information will be recorded, when the informationshall be recorded for each of the users using the Intelligent Television100. Statistics may include information about what the user is watching,how often the user is watching, the user's favorites, the user'srecommendations, time the user spends watching certain content, andother information. The model is accessed by the statistics subservice1424 to store user statistics in the database 1428.

The statistics subservice 1424 may receive information from a contentprovider 616. This information may be information about for what theuser is using the Intelligent Television. Further, the information caninclude signals as to when the user is selecting content, what thatcontent is, and when the user changes to a different type of content.This information may be stored by the statistics subservice 1424 in thedatabase 1428. The data may also be managed or processed by thestatistics subservice 1424 into more usable information. Further, thestatistics subservice 1424 may access and retrieve information in thedatabase 1428 to send to external services that may use these statisticsfor better content provision, for targeting advertising to the user, orfor other types of functions or services.

An embodiment of information stored in the database 1500 for live TVdata is shown in FIG. 15. The database 1500 may be the same or similarto database 1412, described in conjunction with FIG. 14. The database1500 can include one or more data structures 1504 that include live TVinformation. The data structure 1504 may include one or more of, but isnot limited to, a source field 1508, a channel identifier (ID) field1512, an electronic programming guide field 1516, and/or a metadatafield 1520. There may be more or fewer fields within the data structure1504, as represented by ellipses 1524.

For each content source identified in field 1508, there may be severalchannel, which contain data stored in the several fields, as representedby second data structure 1532. Thus, for each source of live TV data,there is a listing of channel information 1532. A source field 1508 caninclude information about the source of the live TV data. The source canbe a set of bandwidth from an antenna, content from an analog source,content from a digital source; the source may include information aboutwhether the data was received over an antenna or over a network. Anysource information, such as an ID or how to connect with the source, maybe stored in the source field 1508.

Channel ID field 1512 can include information about which channel thedata is associated with. The channel ID may not necessarily be an analogchannel, but may be a digital content provider, thus the A channel, suchas CBS, TNT, HBO, may be referred to in channel ID 1512A or 1512B. Thechannel ID may also be a “channel,” such as channel 4 or channel 7. Thisinformation is stored to identify the channel associated with theinformation that is stored in the data structure 1504.

An electronic programming guide field 1516A, 1516B, can includeinformation about the correlation between the channel and the electronicprogramming guide. This information assures that the EPG data isassociated with the correct channel.

Metadata fields 1520A and 1520B include any information associated withthe channel. The Metadata 1520 can include information, for example,when the channel is to be updated, where the channel information can beprovided, for example, a description of channel episode information onthat channel from an internet source. This information may also includeinformation provided by the user about the channel. This information maybe stored to ensure better navigation for the collection of channelinformation. There may be more channel data structures 1504 and 1532,than those shown in FIG. 15, as represented by ellipses 1528.

An embodiment of information or data 1600 about media stored with, orassociated with, the Intelligent Television 100 is shown in FIG. 16.Here, the media data 1600 may be the same or similar to that as providedin database 640. The media data can include one or more data structures1604 which describe the media within the database 1600. The mediadatabase 1600 can also include one or more data structures 1608 that areassociated with user defined organizational features of the database1600.

The data structure 1604 describes the media within the database 1600,and includes one or more fields, but is not limited to, a mediaidentifier field 1612, a source field 1616, a content field 1620, and/ora metadata field 1624. There may be more or fewer fields than thoseshown for data structure 1604, as represented by ellipses 1628.

The media ID field 1612 can be a unique identifier, such as analphanumeric ID, a globally unique ID (GUID), or some other identifierthat uniquely identifies this media from other media stored in the mediadatabase 1600.

The source data 1616 can include any information about where the mediawas obtained. This information may include whether the source is localor from a social media site. The source information 1616 can alsoinclude information about what system or device the media was obtained.For example, if the media is a picture taken with a smartphone, thesource field 1616 may store information about the device that took thepicture.

The content field 1620 contains the information for the media. Thus, ifthe media is a picture, the content field 1620 can store the informationabout the pixels used to generate the picture. If the media is a video,the content field 1620 can store the MPEG or other video format file.The content field 1620 can include any information in any format used tostore the media.

The metadata field 1624 can include any information describing themedia's data. This information can include the location the picture wastaken, the time the picture was taken, or the user that took thepicture. There may be more information that describes the media data andmay be used to organize the media into different categories. There maybe more than a single data structure 1604 in the database 1600, asrepresented by ellipses 1632.

The user defined organization structure 1608 can include one or morefields, but is not limited to, a user-defined organization field 1636, afirst category field 1646, a second category field 1650. There may bemore or fewer fields than those shown in data structure 1608, asrepresented by ellipses 1654. Each user may have a set of definedcategories, thus, there may be more user defined organizational features1608 than that shown in FIG. 16, as represented by ellipses 1658.

The user defined organization 1636 may identify the user, and thatuser's specific set of categories that are used organizational features.Thus, there might be a user ID in the user-defined organization field1636. Further, the user may name this type of organization or identifythe organization separately; thus, there may be some ID for associatingthis set of categories with the user and how the user wants to organizethe media.

The first category of organization 1646 can include a first set of data,which may include the source data 1616 or metadata 1624, with which theuser desires to organize the media. This organizational information caninclude information, for example where the picture was taken, who tookthe picture, the subject of the picture, the source of the picture, orother information. This information can be placed in the category as atop level organization. A second organization may be included in secondcategory field 1650. This information may be the same or similar tocategory one, but include a different category to organize the data by.Thus, the user may enter several categories to best organize theinformation within the media database 1600.

An embodiment of electronic programming guide 1700 is shown in FIG. 17.This example of the electronic programming guide 1700 can have one ormore data structures 1704 that define content within the IntelligentTelevision 100 that may be provided currently or in the future. Whilethere is a single data structure 1704 shown in FIG. 17, there may bemore or fewer than data structures 1704 that that shown in FIG. 17, asrepresented by ellipses 1740. The EPG data structure 1704 can includeone or more fields, but is not limited to, an EPG date field 1708, anEPG time field 1712, a channel field 1716, a program field 1720, a timefield 1724, a favorites designation 1728, and a reminder field 1732.There may be more or fewer fields than those shown in FIG. 17, asrepresented by ellipses 1736.

An EPG date field 1708 can include the date upon which this EPG wasobtained, stored, or updated. The date 1708 can be any type of date inany format. The EPG time field 1712 can include a time when the EPG datawas obtained, stored, or updated. This time 1712 and date 1708 providean indication of when the EPG data was created. This time 1712 and date1708 may then be used to determine whether updates to the EPGinformation need to be made on a periodic basis or sometime in thefuture.

A channel field 1716 can be an indication of the channel or contentprovider for the particular series of programs or content associatedwith that content provider. The channel field 1716 can be associatedwith channel IDs 1512, described in conjunction with FIG. 15. Thechannel may include an analog frequency range, may include a contentprovider ID, or name, such as, HBO, TNT, CBS, etc. This channelinformation 1716 may then be used to identify one or more programs orepisodes that are to be provided on that channel into the future.

The program field 1720 includes an ID or indication of the actualcontent being provided on that channel. The content program information1720 can include the name of the content and any metadata associatedtherewith. For example, the metadata can include descriptions, times,episode numbers, ratings, and other information about the program. Theprogram information 1720 may also be associated with the time 1724,thus, each program may have a particular time or time range when theprogram is meant to be provided on the channel 1716. Thus, the timefield 1724 includes a date and time that the program is to be provided.Thus, there may be several program and time associations with thechannel. This is represented by ellipses 1740. Further, there may beseveral channel data structures which are also represented by ellipses1740.

The channel or program may also be associated with the favoritesindication 1728. Thus, as the user decides that a certain channel or anepisode is a favorite, the EPG data stores this information in thefavorites indication 1728. Thus, the favorites indication 1728 can be anindication that there is a favorite, and the association with whetherthe favorite is associated with the channel or the particular program.

A reminder field 1732 may also be associated with either the channel orthe program. The reminder 1732 can be a date and time reminder to watchthe channel 1716 at the date and time. The reminder 1732 can also be areminder associated with the program 1720 to either watch the programwhen a new episode or a particular episode is playing. Thus, thereminder has the information needed to determine what to remind the userof, and when to remind that user of.

An embodiment for search data 1800 is shown in FIG. 18. The search datacan include one or more data structures 1804, which describe previoussearches conducted by the user. There may be more or fewer datastructures 1804 than those shown in FIG. 18, as represented by ellipses1828. The data structure 1804 can include one or more of, but is notlimited to, a search date field 1808, a search time field 1812, searchterms field 1816, and results field 1820. There may be more or fewerfields associated with each data structure 1804, as represented byellipses 1824.

The search date 1808 can include the date upon which the user conductedthe search. The search date 1808 can be used to rank order or date orderthe searches provided by the user. A time field 1812 can also include atime indication of when the search was conducted. The date and time 1808and 1812 allow the searches to be date ranked or time ordered forpresentment to the user at a later date. There may also be included auser ID field (not shown) within the search database to associate anysearch with a particular user.

A terms field 1816 can include the search terms used by the user to dothe search. The search terms can include letters or numbers used in ageneral search. A search terms 1816 can also use any category the userused to search EPG data 1700.

The results field 1820 can provide either the results provided in thesearch, or a definition of how the results can be obtained again. Thus,the results may be quickly provided to a user if the user wants toexecute that particular search again.

An embodiment of a statistics database 1900 storing user usagestatistics is shown in FIG. 19. The statistics database 1900 can includeone or more data structures 1904 that store information about usagestatistics for a user. There may be more or fewer data structures 1904than that shown in the database 1900, as represented by ellipses 1948.Each data structure 1904 can include one or more fields associated withusage statistics, including one or more of, but not limited to, a useridentifier field 1908, an application or TV indication field 1912, ausage statistics set field 1920, etc. The applications/TV field 1912 canstore an identifier for the particular television and for anyapplication used by the user.

Each one of these usage statistics sets may include a session identifier1916. The session identifier 1916 indicates a set of data associatedwith the viewing session by the user. For example, the user may turn ona television and begin a new session; when the user turns off thetelevision, the session ends. Thus, for each time the user has a viewingsession, a new session ID 1916, and set of usage statistics, is created.

The user might have several usage statistics sets included with eachsession. For example, the data structure 1904 includes usage statisticsset one 1920 and usage statistics set two 1924. There may be more orfewer sections or fields of data associated with each data structure1904, as represented by ellipses 1928. The usage statistics set caninclude one or more fields including one or more of, but not limited to,an identifier field 1932, a time field 1936, a date field 1940, a whenused last field 1944, a favorites field (not shown), a contentidentifier field (not shown), or other information. The identifier field1932 can include information that uniquely identifies this first usagestatistic. The time field 1936 can include a time upon which this usagestatistic was created or a time duration to which the usage statistic isassociated. The date added field 1940 can be a date when the content orusage statistic was created. The when last field 1944 can be informationabout when the user had last accessed the content. There may be more orfewer fields than those shown in each usage statistic, for example, lastused, most recently used, favorites, etc. There may be particular usagestatistics for different types of media, for example, picture media,television channel episodes and series content, video content, etc.Thus, the information in each usage statistic 1920 may change dependingon the type of media.

An embodiment of a method 2000 for auto-scanning channel information isshown in FIG. 20. While a general order for the steps of the method 2000is shown in FIG. 20. Generally, the method 2000 starts with a startoperation 2004 and ends with an end operation 2028. The method 2000 caninclude more or fewer steps or can arrange the order of the stepsdifferently than those shown in FIG. 20. The method 2000 can be executedas a set of computer-executable instructions, executed by a computersystem, and encoded or stored on a computer readable medium. Further,the method 2000 can be executed by a gate or other hardware device orcomponent in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, a FieldProgrammable Gate Array, or other type of hardware device. Hereinafter,the method 2000 shall be explained with reference to the systems,components, modules, software, data structures, user interfaces, etc.described herein.

The Intelligent TV 100 receives an indication of a first time experience(FTE) start, in step 2008. Here, the processor 364 receives the firstsignal by a user that the television is beginning to be operated. Theprocessor 364 then may instruct the data service 432 to collect channelinformation. The data service 432 may execute the live TV subservice1408 which creates an instance of the live TV source plug-in 1416. Thelive TV source plug-in 1416 may then interface with theencoding/decoding, compression/decompression module 366 connected to theantenna 324.

The live TV source plug-in 1416 may then do a background determinationof the existence of any channel source, in step 2012. The “background”determination means that the user need not select a user interfacedevice, for example, user interface device 2112 or 2116, as shown inFIG. 21. Rather, the user need only begin the first time experience. Inthis way, the user is not slowed in setting up the television by havingto wait for the channel scan, but the channel scan occurs in thebackground during the FTE without the knowledge of the user.

Thus, the live TV source plug-in 1416 determines channel sourcesreceived by antennas or from other sources, such as from a portinterface 352. Based on the channel source information, the live TVsource plug-in 1416 may then do a background scan for channels on anyantenna 324 or received from any port interfaces 352, in step 2016. Thescanning involves determining if there is content being provided andthen determining the information about that content. For analogtelevision, the live TV source plug-in 1416 can determine whichfrequency ranges include data that may be provided for content viewing.This data may be in certain channel bands. For digital TV, the live TVsource plug-in 1416 can determine which content packets are associatedwith which content providers.

This “channel” information may then be used to populate the database1500, which is stored in database 1412. Thus, the live TV source plug-in1416 populates the database 1500 while the user is making otherselections during the first time experience, in step 2020. This meansthat the user, once completed with the first time experience, may notneed to do a manual scan of the TV using the interface shown in FIG. 21.Thereinafter, the user interface application 468 can provide the channellist either as an electronic programming guide or some other userinterface, in step 2024. In this way, the user interface application 468can obtain the information from database 1500 to provide to the user forchannel selection.

An embodiment of the method 2200 for storing media in the IntelligentTelevision 100 is shown in FIG. 22. While a general order for the stepsof the method 2200 is shown in FIG. 22. Generally, the method 2200starts with a start operation 2204 and ends with an end operation 2244.The method 2200 can include more or fewer steps or can arrange the orderof the steps differently than those shown in FIG. 22. The method 2200can be executed as a set of computer-executable instructions, executedby a computer system, and encoded or stored on a computer readablemedium. Further, the method 2200 can be executed by a gate or otherhardware device or component in an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit, a Field Programmable Gate Array, or other type of hardwaredevice. Hereinafter, the method 2200 shall be explained with referenceto the systems, components, modules, software, data structures, userinterfaces, etc. described herein.

An Intelligent Television 100 may receive media, in step of 2208. Here,the processor 364 may detect a connection of a device or media source ata port interface 352. The connection may be to a local network 132,which connects to one or more local devices 168. Further, the connectionmay be through the network 132 to one or more visual media libraries148, or through the telephone company 146 to a distant site, such as asocial media site. The processor 364 may then execute the mediasubservice 628 to retrieve the media data and store the media data inthe local database 640. The media subservice 628 may create an instanceof the media source plug-in 652 to retrieve the media data, to receivethe media data, and/or to store the media data in the database 640. Oncethe media is stored, the media subservice 628 may then organize thedata.

In organizing the data, the media subservice 628 can receiveuser-defined organizational criteria, in step 2212. The criteria maydetermine how to organize types of media, for example, by date, byplace, by time taken, and other information, which is stored in metadatain the media database 1600. Thus, any metadata 624 provided in thedatabase 1600 stored in database 640 can be used to organize the media.Any information received by the user can be stored in data structures1608. Thus, the media subservice 628 can store the user-defined criteria1608, in step 2216.

The media subservice 628 may then retrieve information from the database640 to provide to the user interface application 468 to provide a userinterface with the organization of the media as defined by the user, instep 2220. An example of a media user interface 2300 is shown in FIG.23. In FIG. 23, the user interface 2300 organizes the media by the placeat which place the video or photos were taken. For example, the userinterface 2300 presents a bunch of location tiles 2304, 2308, 2312.These tiles 2304-2312 may be user-selectable devices to enter thatcategory of media to view pictures associated with the place listed inthe tile 2304-2312. The user may select to organize media by placetaken, and then sort the tile category, for example, alphabetically ordate ordered. In this case, as shown in FIG. 23, the place categoriesare organized alphabetically. This information may be user-defined, andstored in data structure 1608, but retrieved by media subservice 628 toprovide the user interface 468.

A second user interface 2700 is shown in FIG. 27. In FIG. 27, adifferent type of Fibonacci spiral view is presented in user interface2700. Here again, the media may be organized by the place in which themedia was taken. However, rather than being alphabetical or dateordered, the organization may be based on the number of photographs, orthe amount of media presented or associated with the place. Thus, themost amount of media may be associated with the tile 2704, while thesecond most is associated with tile 2708. This type or organization may,again, be user-defined and stored in data structure 1608, and used bythe media subservice 628 to provide information to the user interfaceapplication 468.

At some time thereinafter, the processor 364 may determine whether newmedia is received, in step 2224. The processor 364 may detect whether anew device 168 is attached to the network 132. In other circumstances,the processor 364 may scan media databases 148 to determine if therehave been changes or updates made. If there has been new media receivedat the Intelligent Television 100, the method 2200 proceeds YES, to step2228. If there is no new media received, then method 2200 proceeds NO toprocess operation 2244.

In step 2228, the processor 364 receives the new media in a process oroperation similar to that described in conjunction with step 2208. Theprocessor 364 may then execute the media subservice 628 to retrieveorganizational criteria 1608, in step 2232. Here the media subservice1628 may store the new media in database 1600, and then determine how toorganize the new media based on the user-defined criteria 1608.

The media subservice 628 may then provide the new organized data to theuser interface application 468, which can change the user interface,based on a user-defined criteria, to incorporate the new media, in step2236. For example, as shown in FIG. 24, the user interface 468 may beproviding an interface 2300 without the new media. The new media 2400may include more media from different places, such as that associatedwith tiles 2404 and 2408. The media subservice 628 may provide this newinformation to the user interface application 468 to change the view ofthe media provided by the Intelligent Television 100.

The user interface 468 may shift the user interface 2500 as shown inFIG. 25. Here, the user interface is providing spots or slots 2504,2508, to insert the new media. Upon insertion of the new media, the userinterface application 468 provides a user interface 2600, shown in FIG.26. Here, the media subservice 628 has provided the new mediainformation to allow the user interface application 468 to create a newtile arrangement with a new alphabetical arrangement of the locationtiles, for example, 2604, 2608, that includes the new media. Thus, onceorganized and determined, the user interface application 468 providesthe new interface, in step 2240.

In another example, as shown in FIG. 28, user interface 2700 needs to bechanged to incorporate new media 2800. The media subservice 628 candetermine whether the new media 2800 has more media associated withcertain new location tiles than that shown in original user interface2700. If there are changes to be made, the media subservice 628indicates as such to the user interface 468 to create spaces 2908 inuser interface 2904, shown in FIG. 29. New tiles are created 3004 and3008 and inserted in the user interface 3000, as shown in FIG. 30. Thus,the media subservice 628 can organize the information and dynamicallychange user interfaces or dynamically change the way media is providedbased on predefined user organizational criteria 1608.

An embodiment of a method 3100 for dynamically changing EPG data isshown in FIG. 31. While a general order for the steps of the method 3100is shown in FIG. 31. Generally, the method 3100 starts with a startoperation 3104 and ends with an end operation 3144. The method 3100 caninclude more or fewer steps or can arrange the order of the stepsdifferently than those shown in FIG. 31. The method 3100 can be executedas a set of computer-executable instructions, executed by a computersystem, and encoded or stored on a computer readable medium. Further,the method 3100 can be executed by a gate or other hardware device orcomponent in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, a FieldProgrammable Gate Array, or other type of hardware device. Hereinafter,the method 3100 shall be explained with reference to the systems,components, modules, software, data structures, user interfaces, etc.described herein.

The processor 364 can execute the EPG subservice 624, which can createan instance of EPG source plug-in 648. The EPG source plug-in 648 canretrieve EPG data, in step 3108. Here, the EPG source plug-in 648 mayconnect through a network 132 to distant EPG information 136. Thisdistant EPG information 136 may be then downloaded or retrieved by theEPG source plug-in 648 and stored in database 636. The database 636 caninclude the information as shown in database 1700, as shown in FIG. 17.

User interface 468 may also receive favorite or reminder information, instep 3112. For example, upon selection of a remote control button, theuser interface 468 can provide a user interface menu 3220, shown in FIG.32. Here, the user may set a reminder in section 3208A, can add theprogram as a favorite in section 3208B, or set the channel as a favoritein 3208C. This different information 3208 may be used to set specificattributes to the content for the user. The user need only select abutton 3228 to set a reminder or make a favorite. This reminder orfavorite then may be associated with the content indicated in banner3204. The user interface 3200 allows the user to set such reminders orfavorites for any of the content provided by the Intelligent TV 100.This information may be received by the user interface 468 and sent tothe EPG subservice 624. The EPG subservice 624 may then store thefavorite or reminder information with the EPG data, in step 3116.

Here, the EPG subservice 624 may store the favorites in field 1728, orreminders in field 1732. The information may then be maintained with theEPG data for that channel or program thereinafter.

At some time thereinafter, the processor 364 may inscribe or receivenotice that the EPG subservice 624 needs to obtain updated EPG data fromEPG source 136. Thus, the EPG source plug-in 648 can obtain and receiveEPG data thereinafter. As some point, the EPG subservice 624 providesinformation to the user interface application 468 to provide EPG data,for example, through user interface 3300 shown in FIG. 33. A panelmanager 536, or silo manager 532, can provide the EPG data, in step3120.

The processor may thereinafter determine if an EPG update is available,in step 3124. If no EPG update is available, the method 3100 proceeds NOback to step 3120. However, if there is an update, the method 3100proceeds YES to step 3128.

In step 3128, the EPG source plug-in 648 retrieves the EPG update, instep 3128. As explained previously, the EPG source plug-in 648 accessesnew EPG data from EPG source 136 and stores the EPG data in the database636. The EPG subservice 624 may then access the favorites 728 andreminders 732, associated with the EPG data, and update those favoritesor reminder data, in step 3132. In this instance, the EPG subservice 624can determine if any of the favorites 728 or reminders 732 apply to theupdated information. If so, those favorites 728 and reminders 732 arecopied over to the new EPG data. Thus, as updates are received, the EPGsubservice 628 can dynamically change the EPG data, in step 3136.

This updated information may then be provided as an update in a userinterface, in step 3140. Here, the EPG data subservice 624 may sendthose updates to the user interface application 468 to be provided bythe panel manager 536 or silo manager 532 in a user interface. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 33, EPG data includes fields 3304 through 3316that have identifiers for certain content.

While viewing or before viewing, the EPG subservice 624 may change orupdate the data associated with those channels. Thus, the EPG subservice624 can provide these updates to the silo manager 532 and/or panelmanager 536 to change the user interface either dynamically, inreal-time, or before the user views the EPG, thus providing a new userinterface 3400 as shown in FIG. 34. Here, new programs are shown withnew time data in fields 3404 through 3416. Further, the field 3404indicates that the new program is a favorite by displaying a star in thefield, and field 3408 indicates that the new program is a recommendationby displaying a dot (the dot can also mean that the content has alreadybeen watched). Thus, this information may be updated dynamically for theuser as the user is viewing the EPG data. It may also be possible thatthe EPG data is not updated until the user decides to view and EPG userinterface, thus showing changes in real-time or in near real-time, towhen the user is viewing the actual information in the EPG userinterface 3400.

An embodiment of a method 3500 for obtaining and saving search termresults is shown in FIG. 35. While a general order for the steps of themethod 3500 is shown in FIG. 35. Generally, the method 3500 starts witha start operation 3504 and ends with an end operation 3536. The method3500 can include more or fewer steps or can arrange the order of thesteps differently than those shown in FIG. 35. The method 3500 can beexecuted as a set of computer-executable instructions, executed by acomputer system, and encoded or stored on a computer readable medium.Further, the method 3500 can be executed by a gate or other hardwaredevice or component in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, aField Programmable Gate Array, or other type of hardware device.Hereinafter, the method 3500 shall be explained with reference to thesystems, components, modules, software, data structures, userinterfaces, etc. described herein.

A search service associated with data service 432 may be able to searchEPG data 636, media data 640, video demand data 632, or live TV data1412. The data service 432 may receive a search query, in step 3508. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 36, the user may select a search panel 3600and be provided with a display shown in FIG. 36. The search panel caninclude an area 3604 to enter search terms. These search terms can be analphanumeric indication of a program that the user desires to try andlocate. In other situations, the user may also search for statisticdata, for example, favorites or most watched data indicated by userinterface selections 3612 and 3616. A data service 432 may thendetermine if the search query is statistical, alphanumerical, in step3512. If the search is alphanumeric, the method 3500 proceeds throughthe ALPHANUMERIC branch to step 3516 and step 3524. If the search isstatistical, the method 3500 proceeds through the STATISTICAL branch tostep 3528.

In step 3516, that data service 432 can parse the terms used in thesearch. Parsing the terms means determining or separating the terms forthe search results, either for new combinations or other combinations ofthose terms. The data subservice 432 may then save these terms and anyresults associated with the search, in step 3512. Thus, the data service432 may store search terms in database 1800, in field 1816, with theresults stored in field 1820. This information may then be stored instatistics database 428, or in live TV database 1412.

The data service 432 may also provide results by scanning for the searchterms dynamically as those search terms are entered. For example, as theuser enters the first search term, the search results in field 3608, inFIG. 36, are provided. As the next term is entered, the list of resultsis pared according to the newly entered search term. This paring ofsearch results continues until the user has completed entry of searchterms in field 3604 or until a single result is provided in field 3608.

In step 3528, the data service 432 may determine the statistic chosen bythe user. For example, in user interface 3700, shown in FIG. 37, theuser may search for content based on one or more statistics based on allmedia 3704, most accessed 3708, favorites 3712, last accessed 3716,recently added 3720, next most recently added media 3724, second mostrecently added media 3728-3732, etc. Any of these different statisticsmay be chosen by the user.

In another circumstance, the user may be provided with user interface3800 shown in FIG. 38. Here, the user may select one or more categories,3820 a through 3820 c, that better statistics that help sort thecontent. For example, the user has selected the last category 3820 b,which then presents content based on the most recently last viewed videoto the least most recent viewed video shown in fields 3804 through 3816.

In user interface 3900 in FIG. 39, the user may sort be selectedfavorites that are stored with the EPG data 1700. Thus, the user may beprovided with a list of favorites 3904. Thus, based on the type ofsearch done, the EPG data service 432 may provide this information tothe user interface application to provide for and instruct the silomanager 532 and/or panel manager 536 to provide a user interface ofthose search results, in step 3532. The user interface can be the sameor similar to those described in FIGS. 36 through 39.

An embodiment of a method 4000 for recording usage statistics, orstatistics about the content for searches is presented in FIG. 40. Whilea general order for the steps of the method 4000 is shown in FIG. 40.Generally, the method 4000 starts with a start operation 4004 and endswith an end operation 4040. The method 4000 can include more or fewersteps or can arrange the order of the steps differently than those shownin FIG. 40. The method 4000 can be executed as a set ofcomputer-executable instructions, executed by a computer system, andencoded or stored on a computer readable medium. Further, the method4000 can be executed by a gate or other hardware device or component inan Application Specific Integrated Circuit, a Field Programmable GateArray, or other type of hardware device. Hereinafter, the method 4000shall be explained with reference to the systems, components, modules,software, data structures, user interfaces, etc. described herein.

The user interface application 468 can receive a content selection, instep 4008. Here, the user may select a remote control button from theremote control 700. The remote control may send a signal to the IR/RFmodule 354. This signal may then be presented to the processor 364,which may execute a driver 420 to interpret the electrical signal. Thedriver 420 can then send a signal to the user interface application 468.The user interface application 468 can interpret the data in the signalas selecting an item of content.

The statistics subservice 1424 may, in response to the selection,determine if the content is being viewed, in step 4012. Thedetermination of whether the content is being viewed may be adetermination of how long the user loiters on the content before theIntelligent TV 100 receives another content selection. The determinationcan be some other determination that the user is viewing the content,rather than simply surfing though channels. If the content is beingviewed, the method 4000 proceeds YES to step 4016. If the content is notbeing viewed, the method 4000 proceeds NO back to step 4008.

In step 4016, the statistic subservice 1424 stores the election ofcontent and the information about the content in the database 1428.Thus, the statistics subservice 1424 can create a data structure 1904 tostore statistics about the content selection. The statistic subservice1424 then builds a statistic database 1900 that is associated withselected content. the user, and other data, in step 4020. For example,the statistic subservice 1424 can create usage statistics 1920 and 1924.

Further, in step 4036, the statistic subservice 1424 can receiveinformation about new content received and uploaded into EPG data 1700,in step 4036. The statistic subservice 1424 can include this informationinto statistics about TV data in the statistics database 1900. Thisinformation can include an ID of the content, and time/date added 1936,1940.

Further, the statistic subservice 1424 can receive the time and dateinformation, in step 4024. Thus, the processor 364 can provideinformation about current time and date to allow the statisticsubservice 1424 to establish time tags and date tags for when contentwas received, when the content was last viewed, and other information.This information then builds a statistics database 1900. The statisticsubservice 1424 may minimize the amount of data stored by only storinginformation about the last 20 items of content viewed or used by theuser. Or for each category, only provide the last 20 entries. Thisrestriction eliminates a large and growing database within theIntelligent TV 100.

At some time thereinafter, the Intelligent Television 100 can receive arequest for statistics, in step 4028. Here, the user may decide tosearch or look at information about the content. The user may select aremote control button on remote control 700, or some other interface inthe Intelligent Television, which will send a signal to the processor364. The processor may then send a request for information to thestatistic subservice 1424 to retrieve the data to be presented to theuser.

The statistic subservice 1424 can then retrieve the content by searchingthe content fields in data structure 1904 for the type of statisticsdesired by the user. This information may then be presented, in a userinterface, developed by the user interface application 464. In othercircumstances, the Intelligent Television 100 may receive a request forstatistics from a customer service or other outside system or operation.The customer service application 144 can send a request for statisticsthrough the network 132 to the Intelligent Television 100. This requestmay be for statistics about what programs the user is viewing. Theprocessor 364 can then send a request to statistic subservice 1424 toretrieve the data associated with how the user is interacting with thetelevision 100, including what content has been viewed, for how longthat content was viewed, and any viewed content, any favorites, anyreminders, any applications being used by the user, any media beingviewed by the user, etc. This information may then be packaged in a datafile, which is sent by the processor 364 through the port interfaces 352and through the network 132, back to the customer service operation 144.Thus, the Intelligent Television 100 allows for outside data collection,which can then help to better target content and advertising to theuser.

The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure have been describedin relation to an Intelligent Television. However, to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the precedingdescription omits a number of known structures and devices. Thisomission is not to be construed as a limitation of the scopes of theclaims. Specific details are set forth to provide an understanding ofthe present disclosure. It should however be appreciated that thepresent disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond thespecific detail set forth herein.

Furthermore, while the exemplary aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations illustrated herein show the various components of thesystem collocated, certain components of the system can be locatedremotely, at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a LANand/or the Internet, or within a dedicated system. Thus, it should beappreciated, that the components of the system can be combined in to oneor more devices, or collocated on a particular node of a distributednetwork, such as an analog and/or digital telecommunications network, apacket-switch network, or a circuit-switched network. It will beappreciated from the preceding description, and for reasons ofcomputational efficiency, that the components of the system can bearranged at any location within a distributed network of componentswithout affecting the operation of the system. For example, the variouscomponents can be located in a switch such as a PBX and media server,gateway, in one or more communications devices, at one or more users'premises, or some combination thereof. Similarly, one or more functionalportions of the system could be distributed between a telecommunicationsdevice(s) and an associated computing device.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connectingthe elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof,or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable ofsupplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements.These wired or wireless links can also be secure links and may becapable of communicating encrypted information. Transmission media usedas links, for example, can be any suitable carrier for electricalsignals, including coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, and maytake the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated duringradio-wave and infra-red data communications.

Also, while the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated inrelation to a particular sequence of events, it should be appreciatedthat changes, additions, and omissions to this sequence can occurwithout materially affecting the operation of the disclosed embodiments,configuration, and aspects.

In another embodiment, the systems and methods of this disclosure can beimplemented in conjunction with a special purpose computer, a programmedmicroprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuitelement(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signalprocessor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such as discreteelement circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array such as PLD,PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means, or thelike. In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementing themethodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the variousaspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for thedisclosed embodiments, configurations and aspects includes computers,handheld devices, telephones (e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital,analog, hybrids, and others), and other hardware known in the art. Someof these devices include processors (e.g., a single or multiplemicroprocessors), memory, nonvolatile storage, input devices, and outputdevices. Furthermore, alternative software implementations including,but not limited to, distributed processing or component/objectdistributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machineprocessing can also be constructed to implement the methods describedherein.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be readilyimplemented in conjunction with software using object or object-orientedsoftware development environments that provide portable source code thatcan be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms.Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially orfully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whethersoftware or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance withthis disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirementsof the system, the particular function, and the particular software orhardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems beingutilized.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be partiallyimplemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executedon programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of acontroller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, orthe like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented as program embedded on personal computer such as anapplet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurementsystem, system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system.

Although the present disclosure describes components and functionsimplemented in the aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations withreference to particular standards and protocols, the aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations are not limited to such standards andprotocols. Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned hereinare in existence and are considered to be included in the presentdisclosure. Moreover, the standards and protocols mentioned herein andother similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein areperiodically superseded by faster or more effective equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Such replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents included in thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/orapparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, includingvarious aspects, embodiments, configurations embodiments,subcombinations, and/or subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art willunderstand how to make and use the disclosed aspects, embodiments,and/or configurations after understanding the present disclosure. Thepresent disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations, includes providing devices and processes in the absenceof items not depicted and/or described herein or in various aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations hereof, including in the absence ofsuch items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g.,for improving performance, achieving ease and\or reducing cost ofimplementation.

The foregoing discussion has been presented for purposes of illustrationand description. The foregoing is not intended to limit the disclosureto the form or forms disclosed herein. In the foregoing DetailedDescription for example, various features of the disclosure are groupedtogether in one or more aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations forthe purpose of streamlining the disclosure. The features of the aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations of the disclosure may be combined inalternate aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations other than thosediscussed above. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claims require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a singleforegoing disclosed aspect, embodiment, and/or configuration. Thus, thefollowing claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodimentof the disclosure.

Moreover, though the description has included description of one or moreaspects, embodiments, and/or configurations and certain variations andmodifications, other variations, combinations, and modifications arewithin the scope of the disclosure, e.g., as may be within the skill andknowledge of those in the art, after understanding the presentdisclosure. It is intended to obtain rights which include alternativeaspects, embodiments, and/or configurations to the extent permitted,including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures,functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or not suchalternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions,ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publiclydedicate any patentable subject matter.

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 13. A method for managing data associated with an intelligent television, the method comprising: receiving a selection of content for the intelligent television; storing the selection of content; and creating a database of content selected by a user, wherein the selection is associated with the user.
 14. An intelligent television system comprising: a memory operable to store social media data; a processor in communication with the memory, the processor operable to execute a statistics subservice operable to: receive a selection of content for the intelligent television; store the selection of content; and create a database of content selected by a user, wherein the selection is associated with the user.
 15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon processor executable instructions that cause a computing system to execute a method, the instructions comprising: instructions to receive a selection of content for the intelligent television; store the selection of content; and create a database of content selected by a user, wherein the selection is associated with the user.
 16. The method as defined in claim 13, further comprises: determining if the content has been viewed; if the content has been viewed, storing the selection; and if the content has not been viewed, forgoing the selection.
 17. The method as defined in claim 16, wherein the determination of if the content has been viewed is based on an amount of time the user views the content before selecting another user interface action.
 18. The method as defined in claim 17, further comprises: receiving a designation of a favorite for the content; and storing the favorite designation.
 19. The method as defined in claim 18, further comprises: receiving a date and time; receiving new content at the intelligent television; and storing information about the new content in the database.
 20. The method as defined in claim 19, further comprises: receiving a request for statistical information; retrieving statistics on one or more of selections or new content.
 21. The method as defined in claim 20, wherein the statistics include one or more categories, wherein the categories include one or more of most viewed content, last viewed content, favorite content, or new content.
 22. The method as defined in claim 21, wherein the statistics are presented in a user interface for the user to select content based on the statistics.
 23. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprises providing the statistics to a third party.
 24. The method as defined in claim 23, wherein the database stores statistics for two or more users, and wherein the database stores at least two statistics, in each category, for each user.
 25. The intelligent television system as defined in claim 14, wherein the statistics subservice is further operable to: determine if the content has been viewed, wherein the determination of if the content has been viewed is based on an amount of time the user views the content before selecting another user interface action; if the content has been viewed, store the selection; and if the content has not been viewed, forgo the selection.
 26. The intelligent television system as defined in claim 25, wherein the statistics subservice is further operable to: receive a designation of a favorite for the content; store the favorite designation; receive a date and time; receive new content at the intelligent television; and store information about the new content in the database.
 27. The intelligent television system as defined in claim 26, wherein the statistics subservice is further operable to: receive a request for statistical information; and retrieve statistics on one or more of selections or new content, wherein the statistics include one or more categories, wherein the categories include one or more of most viewed content, last viewed content, favorite content, or new content, and wherein the statistics are presented in a user interface for the user to select content based on the statistics.
 28. The intelligent television system as defined in claim 27, wherein the statistics subservice is further operable to provide the statistics to a third party.
 29. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 15, further comprises instructions to: determine if the content has been viewed, wherein the determination of if the content has been viewed is based on an amount of time the user views the content before selecting another user interface action; if the content has been viewed, store the selection; and if the content has not been viewed, forgo the selection.
 30. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 29, further comprises instructions to: receive a designation of a favorite for the content; store the favorite designation; receive a date and time; receive new content at the intelligent television; and store information about the new content in the database.
 31. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 30, further comprises instructions to: receive a request for statistical information; and retrieve statistics on one or more of selections or new content, wherein the statistics include one or more categories, wherein the categories include one or more of most viewed content, last viewed content, favorite content, or new content, and wherein the statistics are presented in a user interface for the user to select content based on the statistics.
 32. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 31, further comprises instructions to provide the statistics to a third party. 